Mass Vexations
by Herr Wozzeck
Summary: Vexations. Music of Erik Satie. Somehow, it transported me to the Mass Effect universe. Might as well make the best of it, and by that I mean help the crew stop Saren and the Geth, all without telling my real origins. Self-insert. Kaidan/Shepard
1. Prologue

_A/N: ... Fuck the plot bunnies. I'm gonna do this anyway._

_Yeah, so, I got this idea to do a Mass Effect self-insert through a multitude of things, with a few characters from Heavy Rain peppered in every now and then. Don't ask me why, for I don't know either. No matter what, though, things are going to go absolutely crazy with this. Especially how I get there._

_I'm... lost for words on this. So I'll just get to the meat and potatoes of what's going down:_

_Mass Effect, it's characters, and it's setting do not belong to me. They are trademarks of EA Games and Bioware. Neither do I own any pieces mentioned. I do own myself, though; if I didn't, I'd be very afraid for society..._

_Right. Now with those disclaimers out of the way, let's go!_

* * *

**Mass Vexations**

Prologue

Vexations. Piece for solo piano. Music of Erik Satie. Three lines of music. Tritones in every chord. _Trés lent_ for a tempo marking. Thirty-four chords. One bass line to be played twice after that. Eight hundred and forty repetitions of all of the material. Maximum running time of approximately eighteen to nineteen hours. In its entire perfomance history, it has never been played by a single player. Those that tried had to stop due to hallucinations.

I still can't believe I convinced myself I could do this. Those hallucinations of elves dancing on top of the piano are going to be pretty problematic, as I can well imagine.

But then again, I'm probably never going to use crack or marijuana in my life. So I might as well attempt a legal outlet. Or something.

You know what annoys me about the whole thing, though... I'm not actually a pianist. I was a violinist for a long, long time, but I ditched it when I graduated from high school. I'm now a violist and a composer. Have been ever since junior year. And instead of... well, sketching that octet piece that I want to have completely sketched out by the time the semester ends, I'm going off on a gander and... sitting in a practice room on the top floor of the conservatory on a Friday afternoon after Ear Training dictations with that single sheet of paper in front of me with those thirty-four chords. I'm gonna be in here for at least six hours. At any rate, I'm not leaving until I see some kind of hallucination.

I could be doing a lot of things right now. Sketching the aforementioned octet. Playing a bit of _Heavy Rain_. Going to the movies to review the _Clash of the Titans_ remake. Surfing the net. Writing fanfiction. Getting some progress done on that viola concerto I promised for my teacher.

And at the end of the day, Satie won. Insanity ensues.

Well, if there's one thing I won't regret about this, it's that at least good ol' Jimmy D. will have a fun story to tell about the time one of his students sat in a practice room for six hours playing Vexations, especially one that wasn't a pianist. Well, technically, it's not for piano, but playing triple stops softly on a viola is just not possible unless I play pizzicato the entire time. And that's not happening, as then I have to tune everything there. And that means I won't have shit prepared. Not like these practice room pianos are much better, but I can live with the knowledge that it's the school's fault and not my own for neglecting to get these pianos tuned.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. About to play Vexations.

I bring my hands to the keyboard. I'm feeling a rush of uncertainty. Maybe I should turn back now?

No. I went through the trouble of this after doing a lot of hard work this week. I should be ready to relax a bit.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

I press down on the keyboard. C, A, and E-flat are heard as I begin subdividing the sixteenth notes with a foot against the pedal.

And so it begins.

* * *

It's been a few hours. I can already see why these guys would be hallucinating. I haven't gotten to that stage yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm about to enter that phase myself.

It's just... Vexations apparently has this wierdly hypnotic effect on its players. I've lost all track of time, and now the seconds hand of my mind ticks according to the half notes in this piece. I no longer consciously guide my fingers to each key in the chord progression, which is insane seeing as I always have to do that if I ever play written music on a piano. I've stopped subdividing a long time ago, the rhythm now on the tips of my fingers as I press down on the keys.

It's... oddly tranquil, actually.

The only indication that I get that I've been there a long time is that the sky has darkened a bit, and with it my practice room. Shit, I should've turned on the lights before coming in.

Oh, well. I'm on repetition... which? I don't know which repetition I'm on either. I've gotta give a hand to John Cage and all those other guys he got together to do the first performance in which all 840 repetitions were done. They had concentration.

Something that I've long since lost as my mind wanders around. I haven't seen any elves atop the piano yet, but I'm beginning to feel a haze over my mind as I go about doing each repetition of the chord progression. The darkness doesn't help at all.

Nodding almost drunkenly, I continue playing.

* * *

The hallucinations begin to kick in. Now I'm seeing... turians? Dancing atop the piano?

Fuck me. I knew I'd be hallucinating something, but turians? Holy shit!

Hey, wait, now they're molding into origami figures. What the hell?

Slowly, a whole series of other hallucinations are beginning to pile up. I can barely describe them all at once.

From somewhere far away, I can hear an out of tune bar piano playing a very bizarre polka. I begin hearing a baritone voice screaming out about how all of the people there should dance and stink and how they would all go to the devil. I began to hear the blasting of trumpets. The sounds of thrusters picking up. Banging on a tam-tam. A fusillade of oboes, English horns, and... is that a Heckelphone? Piccolos and clarinets shooting up, to be cut off by the sound of a slapstick. Origami figures being folded. Trucks swerving to dodge an unintended target. The sound of Sturge's admonishing to his students of lesser intelligence. The murmur of a crowd. Applause. Kirby's Dream Land. My variations on it. Chaos. Varèse. The Second Viennese School. Ravel. Tchaikovsky. Behind all of this new noise, the sound of Satie is beginning to slowly fade away.

Time doesn't have a meaning anymore. Now my heart beats to the rhythm I began subdividing at the beginning, going perilously slow as it beats away. Somewhere, I can feel my fingers pressing against the keyboard, but just so that they barely register. I see all sorts of swirling colors, dim shades of blue, turquoise, and gray all beginning to overcome me. I feel... really fucking odd.

And yet... it all feels calm.

And then, something else happens. I begin to feel myself fade from existence. Now, I'm playing on the air, the sound of Satie's chord progression drowned out by all of the other sounds that began to accumulate. The dancing... turian... origami... things... whatever they are... were hovering in front of my vision as the colors began to swirl around it more loudly. I felt myself get laid down on the ground. The sounds get louder. The colors more dim. The dancing objects slow down and begin to fade from existence.

I don't know what's happening, but I don't care anymore. And as the objects fade back into my mind, I lose all sensation in my body, like I'm floating in a pool of water.

I feel myself lay down, and abruptly the sound cuts off, with only a squealing of violins at the top of their registers to cue me in on what has happened. The objects nearly blind me, and then they fade out into existence as black rules over all.

* * *

When sensation returns, I feel myself lying with my back on a hard surface. I'm still swimming in black, but now... I've got a headache too. Like something else forced itself into my brain.

Ah, well. That _was_ a pretty big acid trip I took there with Vexations. Hot damn. I don't think that's something I would want to experience again. Ah, well. It'll make for an interesting story to my friends how I began seeing a video game race when I hallucinated. Now that would be something to hear reactions to, especially from my professors given that I don't seem like the type that would play video games.

But first, I have to get out of here...

... Is it me, or is it a little hot in here? I thought I left the window slightly open... I guess the fact that I have my more formal-ish grey jacket on doesn't help matters at all, especially wearing my long sleeved blue shirt from Gap. I swear, Boston weather is way too cold for my own good. I'd have to get that taken care of...

...as soon as I decided to finally move.

Putting a hand on my pants, I move to hoist myself up. That doesn't work so well, so I put my hands on the--

...

Cold metal floor? But the conservatory's practice rooms have a tile floor! And even if I was dragged out, I would expect to feel something like concrete, or grass, or, hell, maybe even being in a seated position against a wall in a police station somewhere. Where was there a place in Boston where there was a cold metal floor?

Hell if I know. Unless that Best Buy knows something I don't... Hm...

Ah, well, I can always check that later.

In the meantime, I realized it would help if I would open my eyes a little bit. I probably just fell off the piano stool so maybe I just need to see that I fell from that onto--

...

Okay, what the fuck is going on here? I lost consciousness in a practice room.

What the fuck am I doing in an alleyway with walls made of metal? Is this some kind of sick practical joke? Who--? Where--?

Oh, damn it. I just realized I don't know how the hell I'm gonna go back to my apartment. My food is gonna spoil! And where... Where the hell am I?

Shaking this off, I blinked and looked down at myself. Darting a hand through my pockets, I make sure I had all my essentials. Okay, I have them all. Good.

Looking around, I realize that my back pack is just a short ways off. Good; at least I won't be losing any of my sketches. Why did I bring them with me anyway? Maybe I was anticipating sketching stuff in the movie theater before I ultimately set my mind on Vexations? Eh, whatever.

I stood up, and then suddenly I made one realization far too many.

I was hungry. I was thirsty. And I didn't know where the hell I was. Just perfect. I come out of the equivalent of a combined LSD/alchohol/crack/marijuana trip, and I'm off like this.

Well... Wait. Now that I think about it, I don't remember anything being said about Vexations hallucinations being that bad... If that's the case...

Shit. I should get out of this alley.

I move forward, slinging my backpack over my shoulders. It's... oddly futuristic. Like I've been dropped off somewhere. Uh... this is really wierd. Did I black out and wind up in some interactive exhibit?

Ah, well. I get to the alleyway, where hopefully things will be--holy shit!

What...? Turians? Salarians? Futuristic outfits? Asari? Omni tools? Vid advertisements? Khalisa al-Jilani? _Not in standard TV definition?????_

... Apparently, I had an acid trip so bad I... I don't know... What the fuck...? How...? When...? Who...? Where...?

_Why? What the fuck is going on?_

I retreated into the alleyway. This is some kind of lucid dream. It has to be. There's no way I've wound up... here, of all places. Or maybe it's the after... no, I won't involve a pun involving some club, even if it's not where I think I am right now.

It's gotta be a dream. And yet...

Well, there's only one way to find out. I'm going to slap myself. And that's exactly what I do, feeling the harsh sting against my own face as I slapped myself as hard as I could.

...

Toto, I really, really, _really_ don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

* * *

Okay, so somehow, by playing Satie's Vexations, I have found myself teleported to the _Mass Effect _universe after a wierd kind of acid trip that would have made Raoul Duke lose both his dignity (from screaming like a little girl) and that fucking cigar.

This... is a bit hard to swallow. I had to sit back in the alley for a second, walking back and seeing pretty much the same thing every time I did. And every time I looked, I had to slap myself. This sure as hell isn't some kind of fucked up lucid dream. I still have that feeling that something else is in my head, but it's no longer hurting it. In fact... I've been able to overhear a few things. In English. So it's probably one of those translator things. How I got that, I have no fucking clue.

It's been a half hour since I woke up here. I have no idea how the hell I got here, and I don't have very good memory of the Citadel, such that if I tried to walk around I would not know where the hell I was. I've realized too I have no food, no water, and no credits. And if I do use my money in my wallet, I doubt I can get it converted into enough credits for it to be worth anything. Hell, I don't even know if there's a currency exchange on where I am!

Which... is the Citadel, apparently. I'm just outside of some bar, so I'll just sit here and see what happens.

You know... since this is the _Mass Effect_ universe, I might as well try and find out where Commander Shepard is. Wherever... he or she is, I get the feeling I might get purpose. I mean, I have very little lead in my pencils, I don't have my viola, and I'm pretty sure that there isn't a whole lot of paper in this universe. I think. I'm a little out of shape, I can't really run all too far without needing to pause to catch my breath, and I've never handled a firearm in my life, but I've got agility and flexibility, and I do have some Tae Kwon Do experience on me. If I could only start getting back in shape and get used to the concept of recoil, I imagine I'd be of some use on her mission, especially when people start dropping like flies once the suicide mission at the end of Mass Effect 2 comes along. We'll have to see.

For now, though, I guess I should hang out around this area. The club is still called Chora's Den, after all. I'm probably still in Mass Effect 1.

Vexations. Piece for solo piano. Music of Erik Satie. Three lines of music. Tritones in every chord. In its entire perfomance history, it has never been played by a single player. Those that tried had to stop due to hallucinations.

Or, in my case, because they get teleported to other universes for daring to do so in a practice room on the top floor of the conservatory.

Welcome to my newly fucked up life.


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: All right, so we're back with some more Mass Vexations._

_So yeah, if you haven't heard of Vexations before... well, now you know pretty much all there is to know about it. It's... kind of hard to play for those reasons, although most people that tried to play it stopped when they saw elves dancing on top of the piano._

_So, you're all probably wondering how I plan to get into Shepard's group, right? Well, look no further than this chapter, in which I show you how I do that. Takes a spin on a certain person's recruitment, so yeah. Beware, as this is a pretty long chapter. (As will the rest of the installments, I think...)_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_"Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am what is true."_ -Robert Brault

* * *

Chapter 1: Sessions: Symphony no. 6

I've been hanging around Chora's Den. And there is a hell of a lot on my mind that I've found out.

I checked my cell phone in the alley, and noticed that no matter where I walked, I did not get any bars, even when I discreetly checked outside of the alley. Well, shit. I'm cut off from everybody I knew. I'm... I'm really alone now.

Alone. That's... terrifying, really. I mean, I lived by myself, but I was never alone. I had people I could trust. People I could talk to. People I could go to if the situation was right... Shit... This is a bit hard to swallow.

I'll hang on to the phone, however. As a memento of a life gone by so I can think of all the people that will probably miss me most. I wonder. If I got teleported here, then what happened to my body over there? Did I die? Did I disappear? Did I get found in an alley somewhere in the city of Boston? I don't know, and I never will. Well, you never know. Knowing my parents, though, they're extremely paranoid, and they would throw a fit when they find out I'm no longer there. I just wish that I could somehow send them a message. Let them know I'm okay, that I'm still alive, and that...

Damn it, I'm getting all misty in public. Not good form.

Seeing as how I wouldn't need my wallet, though, I emptied it of everything in there, including my bills, my drivers' license, my fraternity membership card, all my rewards cards... I figured the wallet would be useless, but I decided to try anyway. When I went to a salarian vendor with it, though, he saw something vintage that would look good in there, so I got a good three thousand credits for that. I dared not give away my identification, however, knowing that I would never live it down if I did (especially since I'm trying to blend in here). Apparently, it's a good deal, as I've found out that it'll buy me enough food to last me for five days.

I also held on to my pack. Or... tried to, at least. I got robbed by batarians before I was able to sell my wallet, and they stole my backpack and therefore all of my sketches and manuscript paper. Well, there goes that. I get the feeling it'll bite me in the ass one of these days, but unfortunately there's nothing an unarmed human who's wearing clothing worthy of the Illusive Man can do in a situation with armed batarians. God... Just looking into those four eyes was way creepier than I thought it would be.

So now that I'm officially somewhat invisible (to be completely invisible once I can get rid of these clothes) I've been hanging around outside Chora's Den, waiting for something to happen. I've already come up with an elaborate cover story. I'm a pretty terrible liar, so I'm pretty sure someone will be suspicious, but where I lack in telling lies I'm a little better at holding back vital information and making things extremely hard to track. So hopefully, that'll save me.

I've also resolved never to tell anybody about _Mass Effect_ the video game. The only people who wouldn't think that me being in another world was sane are self-insert authors, and even then... that's fictional, so they won't help me now. People would think I'm nuts if I told. That's partly why I came up with a cover story, actually: it gives me a reason to be on the Citadel without really seeming odd.

At least I didn't wind up on Eden Prime: that would have screwed any efforts on my part to make up that cover story, especially since I needed time to do so.

I guess also that since I know the events of the game, I can always just sidle along. Hiding it will be the tough part, though. Especially when we get to Virmire. Dear Jesus, I am not looking forward to seeing who gets offed in an incredibly tragic manner once we get there. I should say something, but... it'll give me away. And people will think I'm insane. And then I'll have no place here. It's... Now that I think about it a little more, it's actually a bit scary. It's just... so wierd... Here I am, expecting prettyness and rainbows and all that, and in my first day here I'm robbed by batarians. The irony is palpable. Not like the _Mass Effect _universe was totally bright and happy anyway, but still, I was expecting it to be a bit more... civilized than this.

It's just... I need to get used to the fact that this isn't a game. I need to think of it like _Heavy Rain_. You fuck up, you die. No plot armor here. No second chances. No continues. No dying a lot. No becoming the object of the Angry Video Game Nerd's rants, even if he wouldn't do something this recent anyway.

John, I wish I could give you a pat on the back now. At least in the Fire Emblem universe you were able to definitively prove that you were from another universe. Here, I have no way to prove it, except maybe via what is most likely a vintage cell phone. And my glasses. Those too, but then again, if the Illusive Man can have that suit, chances are there are people in need of glasses. So I salute you. Also, because you've given me a tentative survival guide on how to survive being in another universe, and how to make friends in said alternate universe.

I'm just waiting for something eventful to happen. It's been eight hours since I first got here, and all I can say is that being in the Citadel is incredibly fucking surreal, especially with all that's happened.

But I know one thing's for sure; the mindfuck has just begun.

* * *

I got lucky when I returned the next day, for then I saw a quarian at Chora's Den speaking with one of the bouncers.

I really wouldn't have minded in any other event, but I noticed that she wore a black and grey suit, her movements seeming quite desperate as she talked to the bouncer. Seeing this, I knew I had to do something.

And so, I moved closer to the conversation. I manage to get close enough to hear some of their conversation without being noticed by either of them. I lean against the wall and notice that the quarian seems a little exasperated if her breaths are anything to go by. I of course can't look, or they'll know I'm listening in. Still, I steal a couple of glances at them before turning away. It's a bit of a wait, but finally, I hear the doors opening, and another bouncer whispers to the bouncer that the quarian was talking to.

"Fist is a little busy right now," says the bouncer once I hear the door open again. "But he's agreed to meet with you in an alley in the Upper Wards. It'll be close to the markets there, and it's the only alleyway visible around there. You can't miss it."

All right, thanks for the recap. And if memory serves me correctly, Conrad Verner will also be just outside of it, so we'll see how that goes.

"All right," says the quarian. All right, there's that kind of thick accent that we all know from her! To be honest, it reminds me a little of my Russian friends back home. "Who can I expect to be there to hand the information to?"

"Before Fist shows up, you'll meet up with a turian and two salarians," replies the bouncer. "After that, Fist will show up with the Shadow Broker."

Pah, anyone that knows the Shadow Broker knows he doesn't meet up with clients personally. Unfortunately, that'll work to her disadvantage.

It'll also work to my advantage if I think of everything correctly.

"All right," the quarian says. "When?"

"Head to the alley in two hours," replies the bouncer. "The turian and salarians will meet up with you ten minutes after you tell us you're there. Then Fist will arrive with the Shadow Broker around five minutes after that."

"All right," she says. "Thank you! You have no idea how important it is that I get this information to him!"

"You're welcome," says the bouncer.

As the quarian leaves, I see her go right past me. She seemed to be in good shape in being able to get whatever it was out, but I know otherwise. I'll make stuff up as we go, but...

I did pick up a piece of a rather old metal pipe from the vendor I sold my wallet to. And as I feel the cool metal against my leg, I know I might be able to make this plan work. After all, improvised crowbars are pretty fun, since the end is fashioned a bit like one.

Now I just need to wait for two hours. Turning on and checking the clock on my cell phone, I make a mental note to check it every so often as I leave the outside of Chora's Den to get myself something to eat. Something... tasty, preferably.

I've got it covered, though. For now, I'm gonna check my cell phone clock every so often, see that I don't show up late. Once I get Citadel time, it won't be so hard.

I walk to a cafe, and scan its menu for something nice and spicy...

* * *

Around an hour and forty-seven minutes later, I catch sight of Urdnot Wrex.

His crimson face is kind of hard to miss, really. Especially since he's a krogan and all that, and it's kind of hard not to notice the big guys of the Citadel's populace when they show up. Shame they have the genophage affecting them and all; It would be pretty awesome to see a krogan with a child.

I stood against a wall, watching the krogan harrass the bouncer about Fist. It was kind of easy to tell how well the conversation was going, given that their body language was quite violent. I was pretty afraid Wrex would pull out his shotgun.

But if I know him, he won't do that. His target is Fist, after all; since Wrex does believe in honor I'm confident that he won't try to kill the bouncer.

Their conversation gets louder, though, such that I don't really need to be close to hear their words. I think the Shadow Broker was just mentioned, but that is probably just me. I shifted a little closer and was rewarded with a shouting match between the two of them. The one needs to get to Fist, the other trying to keep him safe. I'm aware of why he's trying to get Fist killed. Betraying the Shadow Broker is pretty serious business.

Hey, are those C-Sec officers? Hm. They're taking Wrex away now, although the krogan is suprisingly not putting up a lot of resitance. Hm. Maybe he's more turian than krogan... Makes me wonder...

Well, he's going with them, telling the C-Sec officers what he was doing. And he made a mention of Fist betraying the Shadow Broker.

All right. I've got my confirmation. Now all I need is to hope that he got the odd feeling that someone was boring holes into the back of his armor and I'll be all set.

I check my cell phone's clock again. An hour and fifty-five minutes since the conversation between Tali and that bouncer.

Well, I better make my way to the upper wards. I haven't caught sight of Kaidan or Ashley yet, so I'm pretty sure that Shepard hasn't gone to Harkin or Barla Von yet. I hope they're not running behind; I'd hate to have to rescue her on my own...

But, I'll make do with what I have.

I leave the area surrounding Chora's Den, feeling the makeshift crowbar against my leg as I took the elevator to the Upper Wards, making my way past the marketplace to see the alley I was sure I had right. I hid in the shadows, looking after the entrance to the alley.

Just before the mark, I see the quarian I caught sight of earlier making her way into that alley. I've come to the right place. Now all that's left is to make sure she gets out of there alive.

I wait a few seconds, and check my cell phone clock for the last time.

It's exactly two hours. She's probably deep in the alleyway, and she's probably radioed the bouncer about it. Great timing.

I rub my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. I've only got one chance to do this. No pause screens. No reloading a save. If I mess up, I die. No turning back from there. I also only have a crowbar as a weapon. Tali only has a handgun, from what I've seen. And I can't just press X to not die; this is serious shit. And to be honest, it's kind of scaring me a little.

But it's something I've gotta do.

It's time to get this show on the road.

Pushing myself off the wall I was leaning against, I follow Tali into the alleyway, knowing that once I was there I would have less than ten minutes to tell her it was a trap.

Here goes nothing.

* * *

Barely ten seconds later, I see the quarian. I advance quickly, knowing I only have so much time to move. The quarian looked at me, and I think I sense puzzlement behind her mask. It's hard to tell at this distance. But everything's exactly as it should be, bathed in crimson light. Oh, hey, there's an extra crate over by where the salarians are supposed to stand. Pretty small one, too, up to maybe my waist. Good thing I brought the crowbar along.

"A human?" she asks me, accent thick with worry. "I thought I was supposed to be waiting on a turian and two salarians."

I approached then, running down a short flight of stairs before letting a hand fall through my pants.

"You are," I say. "And you're looking to give information to the Shadow Broker, right?"

She rears her head back as I get a hold of my imrpovised crowbar. She said nothing for a few seconds as I produced it out, tucking it under my armpit.

"What... how did you know?" she asks. "Are you with... Oh... Oh no..."

With this, she raises her handgun at me, prompting me to raise my hands slowly, the crowbar hovering above my head.

"Saren found me, didn't he?" she says, voice etched with worry. "You're here to kill me before I can hand the information to the Shadow Broker... Choose your next words carefully or I'll shoot!"

I move over to a nearby crate, leaving the crowbar on there. She leaves a hand on her pistol as I do so. Honestly, I can't blame her.

"Yeah, he heard," I say, patting the metal object lightly before turning back to face her with my arms crossed. "But I'm not here to kill you. I'm here because I'm good at eavesdropping."

Tali eyes me oddly, and I can feel an inquisitve glance on my person from behind the face mask. "You're good at eavesdropping?" she asks. "What does that mean?"

I shrug, walking away from the crate. I hope she doesn't plan to shoot me. "I overheard your conversation with the bouncer from Chora's Den," I say. "About how you were supposed to meet here. And how the Shadow Broker himself would meet you here."

Nodding, she seemed to understand what I was saying. "Of course," she replies, nodding. "Y-you're definitely good at eavesdropping. But why come here? You're going to kill me before I can get this information to him?"

All right, here's the moment of truth. Press the X trigger, and here we go.

"I already told you, I'm not here to kill you," I reply, shaking my head. "I'm here, because I'm a good Samaritan. And being a good Samaritan, I'm here because you're in terrible danger."

I don't let her attempt to form a question as I walk around. "The Shadow Broker doesn't meet anyone in person," I continue. "He only works through agents, and even they don't see the Shadow Broker. Anyone who's got even a small amount of knowledge about this galaxy's underworld knows that."

At this, the quarian's hold on her pistol falters, shaking slightly. "So... You mean... Why should I trust what you say?" she asks. "Are you telling me Fist lied to me?"

"Unfortunately," I say, nodding as I lean against one of the alley walls. "That's a problem on its own, but around five, ten minutes ago there was a krogan harrassing one of the bouncers out there. When they called C-Sec on him, I overheard something about how Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker, and that the Shadow Broker hired him personally to take Fist out. So it's safe to assume that this 'Fist' person is working for someone else. Probably this 'Saren' guy you're so afraid of."

Her grip falters even more on her gun. "Y... You mean... He was planning to kill me here?" she asks.

"I think so," I reply. "I think it's pretty reasonble to think that. At any rate, I overheard, and came along partly to see what someone would want you dead over, and partly because it sounds like it's too vital a piece of information to let simply disappear."

Tali shook her head, lowering her pistol and attaching it to her person. "I knew he couldn't be trusted!" she says suddenly. "I knew it from the moment he refused to speak to me in person!"

I raise an eyebrow at this, shaking my head as I make my way back to my crowbar. "Really?" I asked. "If that was true, why didn't you just cop out? Say you had gotten an infection or something like that?"

The quarian shrugs as I take a hold of my crowbar again. "This was my only way to get the information to the Shadow Broker," she replies. "Its... You know the spectre Saren?"

Oh, dear, here we go. Pointless exposition. I'll take the trigger to keep it going, though. It'll make it easier to maintain my cover like that.

"Not really," I say. Half-truth, go! "I grew up on Earth my entire life, and I've only been in the Citadel for a few days, partly against my will. So I'm not too familiar with him. But, I know that Spectres are the Council's best soldiers, and that they're above Citadel laws."

"You have that right," replied Tali. "I encountered him during my Pilgrimage... Keelah, I'm shocked that I'm still alive after that..."

Understanding this, I nod. If that's true... God help us when we have to fight his Sovereign-imbued implants at the end of all this...

"Okay," I said. "And why would he be trying to kill you?"

She looked down at the ground before I felt her gaze into my eyes. "I've got... information about him," she says, tilting her head to the side. "He's a very evil man, and I have to do something to bring him down. He's working with the geth, and he needs to be stopped!"

"I see," I say, wondering why she didn't just go to the council with that information but deciding to ask that later. "Listen, I need you to trust me. I'll try to get you out of this alive, and if that happens we'll be in good hands. But please, I hope you can work with me here. It's for your survival."

She iss silent for a brief period of time. I can feel her gaze on my shoes, and she mulls over the information. I of course know that if we don't hurry we're going to be in big trouble, but she seems to understand that this kind of decision had big implications for her survival. After mulling it over, she nods.

"All right," she says. "I'll trust you for now. I think it's a little suspicious that you'll do something for a total stranger who you only know, but this sounds serious, so I'll work with you."

I nod, smiling softly. "You've made a good choice, madam." I had to fight the urge to say Tali. Fortunately, I didn't blunder, which I would have expected myself to do. "With that done, we only have... how long before your friends show up?"

She glances at me and an orange glow surrounds her hand. Ah, her Omni Tool. "Four minutes at the least."

Shit. I was hoping to get her out of the alley before then.

"Shit..." I say, shaking my head. "If we leave the alleyway now, they'll know, because we won't be too far away. And they'll try to kill you on the spot."

Tali shook her head, glancing around nervously. "Did you have any ideas, then?" she asks. "You had an idea to come, but you didn't come to me without a way to get out?"

I had already thought of that possibility, though, knowing the layout of the alleyway, where people could take cover, all that crap. "Not exactly," I say, taking my crowbar in my hands. I'm not that stupid; I scanned this area before coming and thought of a battle plan. "I'll go hide in this crate. When the turian gives the signal to kill you, I'll jump out of it and attempt to get them with this piece of pipe."

She glances at me as I walk to a crate, bringing my makeshift crowbar to it as I pry it open. It was a little hard, but I put my full weight on and the crate pops open with a slight hiss. I lift the cover slightly, scanning it briefly and finding nothing of note in there. I nod, facing her.

"Projectile attack, I suppose?" she asks.

I nod. "Plus a swipe if any one of them is close enough," I add, lifting the lid of the crate and realizing that it conveniently seemed to hinge on the back. Perfect. The salarians will stand close to this crate unless real life decides to be a bitch and position them somewhere else.

"Doesn't sound very useful if you ask me," replied Tali with a shrug.

I shake my head, chuckling. "If nothing else, it'll provide a distraction that's just long enough for you to pull out your gun and shoot everything in sight," I say. "Either way, I'll probably miss if I toss it since my aim is terrible. Yours shouldn't be so bad, though, and even if I don't hit anything the action should give you just enough time to take a few shots at them and take cover."

She nods in confirmation. "I see your point," she says. "What do I do in the meantime?"

"Play along with them," I say. "When the time is right, say 'the deal was off before you got here', and I'll take that as my cue to do stuff."

At this, she jerks violently, facemask facing me. I step into the crate, bringing my crowbar with me as I hold the lid up with my body.

"All right," she says as I step in. "I don't know who you are, and you're a complete stranger, but... thank you anyways. I'm not sure I would know many humans that would do something like this for no reason."

Before I sink into the crate, I look at her, nodding. "I'm doing this because I've got nothing else to do," I reply. "But it's always a pleasure. And we'll get the introductions out of the way once this whole mess blows over."

With this, I quickly but steadily assume my hiding place in the crate, letting the lid settle over me softly. Darkness surrounded me, and I gripped my crowbar in my hand. My heart is racing a mile a minute. It's like a challenge straight out of _Heavy Rain_. Don't press the R1 trigger to shoot the poor bastards, and we'll be in good hands. And when the X trigger appears, don't wait to press it. And no jumping up and down in your giddiness. That will give everything away and Tali will be dead before you can say 'shit pickle'. Shifting my crowbar slightly so that it doesn't poke out, I hug my knees together. I could fall asleep like this, with my knees up to my chin, but my heart's beating so fast I can't help but stay awake.

Finally, I hear the faint sound of footsteps.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya?" asks a voice. Turian.

Well, there goes the face to face introduction. "Yes, that would be me," she replies. "You were sent ahead by Fist?"

"Yes," he says. I can't see in this darkness, but I know that he's probably looking at her lecherously, just like he did in the game.

Wait... If that son of a bitch has necrophilia on his mind... Ew... No... Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I've already undressed enough people with my eyes. No. Don't think about-

"So we just wait here until he comes around."

Ah, thank you Tali. That certainly saved me some awkwardness.

"Yes," replies the turian. "You're in good hands."

I could imagine Tali's smug look under her facemask. Good thing that people can't actually read emotions behind that thing; it makes being smug that much more fun, I should think. Especially for her, since she gets to enjoy all the screentime before she says the line.

Of course, I'm getting a bit restless in here. I know I can't shift around, though, because that would suck.

"So if I am in good hands, why are your friends still hanging on to their weapons?" she asks.

"Ah, good point," says the turian. "Guys, you can leave your weapons on that crate over there. Keep them within reach though, just in case we need them."

I suddenly hear a pair of pistols being dropped on my crate.

Ah. Good thinking, Tali. Good thinking. Separate them from their weapons. It'll make it all the better with the pivot on this crate, since it'll put distance between them and their firearms, and it'll also be a better distraction when they go around to reach for them. Better for me, because I won't be dealing with point-blank range when I knock their weapons away. Thus, the distraction works.

I like the way she thinks...

And now it's making me even giddier. Shit. Breathe in slowly. Breathe out slowly. In. Out. Think of it like Wii Yoga.

Another few minutes go by before I hear something again.

"Where's Fist?" she asks, pretending to be agitated. "He was supposed to be here two minutes ago!"

"Relax, Tali," says the turian. "He'll be here soon. I promise you."

I hear the soft slap, and I know that the turian's tried to caress Tali's arm.

"Funny thing about that," she said. "The deal was off before you even got here."

All right. Press the X trigger, and let's not fuck this up.

As if on cue, I hear the turian grab his firearm at the same time I heard Tali grab hers. That's all the time I give myself before I burst from the crate, startling the salarians who were just reaching for their guns. They look at me in surprise as their weapons clatter away behind me.

I don't give any of them time to react. Jumping out of the crate shortly, I bring up one of my legs in a kick. It hits the salarian to my right, sending him stumbling back. I don't give them any time before I hit the other salarian over the head with my crowbar, my other foot leaning against the edge of the crate as I swing the metal object. It won't be enough to incapacitate them given their armor, but it's good enough for a distraction.

I overestimated my plan, as the turian suddenly noticed that I had appeared out of nowhere, stalling for a few seconds. Gunshots ring out, and I briefly see the turian fall to his side, facepaint partly marred by blue blood as holes formed in his armor. Okay, so I won't have to toss the crowbar, after all.

I will have to deal with the salarians, though.

The salarian on the right dove for his firearm, but I had already stepped out of the crate by then. I tossed my crowbar at the alien as it came for its firearm.

Of course, I missed, the projectile clattering to the side. It did crack the glass on the rebound from the wall, though, helping the distraction. Taking this as an opportunity, I leapt onto the alien, scrambling on top of it. After a few seconds, my hand extended to the pistol that was there, hearing another set of gunshots ring out.

Thinking quickly, I brought the pistol to the armor of the salarian's head. Poor guy is still struggling against me, though, as he's trying to wrest the thing out of my grip. He cracks the glass on his helmet at one point, such that it would probably shatter if done again.

Heh. He's fighting a hand battle with a violist, who is required by nature of his instrument to have strong arms and stronger hands. I come out of that victorious, putting the gun to his head and firing.

Oh God. The recoil. I fired at an angle such that my entire arm swung back the slightest bit. I can impersonate the Venus de Milo, so it's not that much of a problem, but still... My funny bone... Ow...

Can't let it get to me, though; I gotta do the double tap. I quickly fire it again, and the bullet goes into the helmet. I know Salarians have small heads, so I shoot it again, satisfied when I see blood seeping out from the cracks of the glass on his face-mask.

Taking a few deep breaths in, I realize what I've... Shit, I just killed someone. Someone who was going to kill someone else... but still... Shit, now I know how that guy from Southland must feel about this. The fact he was going to do wrong doesn't change much. But... still... Fuck, I can't believe I'm killing people in an alternate universe. What would Pupa say if she saw me doing this?

Shit. I haven't got time to dwell on it. I'll think about it later...

Gathering my composure, I stand back up, breathing in and out quickly. I look behind me and see that the other salarian and the turian are both dead. A pool of blue blood surrounded the turian, and the salarian was still, its face armor having shattered to reveal a few bullet holes in its head.

Quite full of carnage.

Now all that's left is to hear Brad Pitt's comically exaggerated Southern accent from above and this will be straight out of the bar scene from _Inglourious Basterds_.

"All right," I say. "That was... intense..." I roll my arm around, feeling a small sense of discomfort in my shoulder. It'll go away, though. I'm confident of that.

Tali looks at me inquisitively. "You've never used a gun in your life, have you?" she asks.

Shrugging, I shake my head. "I'm a musician, not a soldier," I replied. "The recoil doesn't seem so bad elsewhere. Makes me wish I hadn't spent all of my life on Earth, honestly..." I then feel the nerves along my forearm as I think about my funny bone. "Actually, now that I think about it... Ow..."

She nods understandingly. Tilting her head to the side, she holsters her gun back. "A musician?" she says earnestly. "I knew humans did quite a lot of that, but I was never certain that one would help me out here. Where's the tool of your craft?"

"It's..." I say, hesitating as I try to decide whether or not to wait to give my cover story. I give up, throwing my arms up. "Complicated. It's very, very complicated."

"I see..." says Tali. "I guess introductions are in order. You heard my name in the crate, I take it?"

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," I recite, smiling. "It's a lovely name. It's got a ring to it."

I can feel the nervous energy from her as her face mask seems to point down. "Oh... thank you," she says. "And you are...?"

"****** *********," I reply, holding out my hand to her. "My good friends call me Art."

"Very well then... Arch?" she asks. "I want to make sure I have that right."

Oh, dear, I mispronounced my own name again. Blame that on the fact that my 't's sound a lot like 'ch's if they fall at the end of a word. "Spelled A-R-T," I say, clarifying my name.

"Ah, okay, Art," she says. She takes my hand and shakes it. "Thank you for saving my life."

Speaking of which... This is a little odd. Shepard and her crew haven't shown up yet. This... is a little jarring. So they are running behind. But... But where does this leave...

Shit... Dr. Michel...

Thinking of this, I nodded, having a tough time masking my agitation. "You're welcome," I say.

She seems to catch the wary tone in my voice. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Dr. Michel, of course. But I'll feed it to you another way. "Uh, Tali..." I say. "I don't know, but... was there anybody else you told about this information about Saren?"

At this, she's taken aback, and I can feel the horror emanating from her body language.

"Oh, no..." she said. "Dr. Michel..."

Playing along, I raise my eyebrow. "Dr. Michel?" I ask, trying to sound convincing. "Who's that?"

"Oh, she's the one who sent me to Fist!" she said, almost breathlessly. "Oh, no... Fist must have sent some men after her! We have to make sure she's all right!"

"Well, let's not stay here any longer!" I say, knowing that time is of the essence. "Come on! To the-... wherever she is!"

"Follow me!" she said. "She's in a medical clinic, so we can probably still save her!"

We don't hesitate a second longer after that. We're both bolting out of the alley, myself following Tali as she leads the way through the upper wards.

* * *

A few seconds later, we encounter a few turians and one, two humans in C-Sec uniform. They're gathered outside of a small little clinic that Tali leads me to. The quarian seems to shake a little bit at the sight of the C-Sec officers. I can't say I blame her: if what I think happened happened, then it would perfectly explain Shepard's absence. And to think that if I hadn't been where I was when I was there, Tali would be dead...

Shit, that's a thought. What would have happened if Tali died? Nobody would have found out about Saren until it was too late. And then the reapers would have come and destroyed the galaxy... Fuck, that's a really frightening thought.

But I don't get to contemplate that, as one of the C-Sec officers turns to us. It's a turian with odd face paint on him, and he regards the quarian and I.

"Excuse me, sir, madam," he says, looking at me. "Do you have any business here?"

I blinked. Tali was too afraid to say anything, so I spoke up after clearing my throat. "Well, kind of," I tell him. "Do you know what might have happened to a certain Dr. Michel?"

The turian regarded us with some kind of dismay, and I realized what had happened. "Unfortunately, I do," he says. "She was shot and killed by three human attackers barely three minutes ago. One of our detectives had gone to her to get something when she was killed."

I can feel the air around Tali tense, and suddenly she brought a hand to her mask. "Oh, no..." she said.

The turian seems to sense the worry in her voice, and she looks over to her. "Madam, are you all right?" he asks.

"N... not really..." she says. "Oh... Oh no... This is..."

The turian gave us an odd look. Tali seemed like she was in mourning, such that she cannot reply. So I decide to reply for her.

"I think we know why she might have been killed, officer," I said.

"So did our detective," replied the turian. "He was following a lead on Saren Aertius when Dr. Michel contacted him about a quarian that had information about Saren that he could use. Personally, I think he's chasing after a wild goose, but... he insisted on seeing this case to the end. He met up with an Alliance lieutenant and her gang, and they're off in Chora's Den investigating the cause." Ah, so this is a FemShepard here. Sweet! I'm so going to play matchmaker with her and Thane when ME2 rolls around. "And yet... why do you say you know why she was killed?"

"I... I was the quarian Dr. Michel was talking about!" exclaimed Tali suddenly.

At this, the turian regarded us with surprise. "So you're still alive," he said. "Our detective told us he doubted you were all right. And yet you're still breathing! He'll be overjoyed to hear this! Do you have any comments you might want to share about that?"

"Not exactly," she says. "Do you know where the detective is?"

"He should still be in Chora's Den," replies the officer. "They met up with a krogan we were detaining before they left for there, though, so go there and you should still be able to catch them. When you get a chance, tell the detective what happened that you're still alive now, as that will fall under his report, not mine."

I rose an eyebrow, a little confused at this. "Wait wait wait wait wait," I say, gesturing with my hands. "If you're documenting the murder and this is related to that, why do we have to go to him?"

"We'll merge the reports later," he replies. "You should get going. Detective Vakarian won't be sitting in Chora's Den much longer.

I nodded, turning to Tali. "All right," I say, facing the turian one last time. "Thank you, officer." Looking to Tali, I gesture. "Come on! To Chora's Den!"

We both ran over to Chora's Den as quickly as we were able to.

* * *

We're both back in front of the circular club, and the first thing we notice is that the bouncers are unconscious. Seeing this, we both run up to the door to Chora's Den.

Oh God... All this running... Out of breath...

"Art, are you all right?" asks Tali.

I nod between breaths. "Yeah," I manage to wheeze out. "It's been a while since I've run this far, though... Shit, I'm out of shape..."

"You're certainly in better shape than you think you are if you were able to stuff yourself in that tiny crate," points out Tali.

I shrug, looking at the bouncers. "Good point," I say, catching my breath with my hands on my knees. "Okay, we're here. Next question, how do we get in?"

Tali looks at me briefly before the orange glow surrounds her hand again. She types something on her Omni Tool, and then the door to Chora's Den opens with very little resistance.

When the door opens, we find a bunch of people lying there dead. Holy shit! I jump back, bringing a knuckle to my mouth as I do so. Shit... A lot of death happened here.

Wow. Shepard's enemies _do _have a very high probability of dying...

"Shit... Well, looks like Detective Vakarian left a lot of damage in his wake," I say. "You don't fuck with him indeed..." Especially so since he survives a _missile_ to the _face_ in the sequel. Now that's awesome.

"He's probably still in here," says Tali. "Let's find him before he disappears on us."

I nod, and the two of us enter the circular bar. We see the line of bodies around the den, all with bullet holes in them. I shudder, thinking about what must have transpired there. I look around, wondering had happened here. It was obvious, but still, I was curious as to exactly how Shepard did it. Must have been a hell of a time.

We walk around the circular bar, and eventually we hear the sound of gunfire from behind a few doors.

"Oh?" I say, looking around. "Are you hearing what I'm hearing?"

"Definitely," replies Tali. She points at a small hallway just a short ways away. "It's coming from in there!"

"Of course," I say. "Let's go!"

Tali and I both walk over to the hallway, looking inside to find more dead guards. As we walked, Tali gave me a look, looking back at the bodies. It's uneasy in here. They're all... dead... It's like Rambo ran straight through here and tore the place up. Sylvester Stallone in the future? I'd totally buy it.

"Wow, there are a lot of dead people here..." she notes.

Feeling a chill run down my spine, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there are," I say. "It's... a little unnerving, honestly."

Tali gives me a look behind her face mask that I can hardly read well. "I take it this is another thing that musicians can't exactly take?"

I shrug. That's true, but... "Not like it makes a difference," I reply. "After all, I do have an imagination that's either sick or demented in some way or another. Like, I'm thinking how badly Fist will burn when he winds up in the eighth bolgia of the eighth circle of hell. Also, how much flowery language will be needed to make it seem almost humanistic. Or wait, he might freeze at the bottom of hell... Hm... What would be his sin...?"

I can feel the confusion behind her glance. There is silence as we draw closer to the gunfire.

"Uh... _Inferno_ reference," I say. "Dante? Human poet from the 1300's?"

Tali shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know any of the human poets," she replies. "Or the human composers. I have lived on the flotilla all my life..."

I shrug, an expression gracing my face that clearly told her of my displeasure. "Oh, dear," I say. "We'll have to rectify that."

"On your end as well," replies Tali. "I doubt you know the quarian equivalents..."

Okay, now here is something I can be completely honest with. All these races have to have a culture somewhere, yet all we know about the quarians are that they have their Pilgrimage as a rite of passage, and that they never think of themselves all that often because their race is living in a bunch of space ships. But I'm pretty sure that the Mass Effect universe didn't go into the proper culture.

Ah, well.

"You've got that right," I say, chuckling. "We'll both have to do that once all this happens."

Tali nods in agreement. "I look forward to it," she says.

Before I can reply, the sound of gunfire abruptly stops. We're halfway down the hallway, and we turn to each other.

"Huh, I guess either they got Fist or they reached an agreement..." I say.

"I'm personally hoping it is the former," replies Tali.

I shake my head. "Nah," I say. "He probably thinks you're dead by now. It'll be much better if they reach an agreement so that we can rub his loss in his face."

Tali's vision came right on me. "You're sadistic, I'll give you that much," she says. "Remind me never to ask how you would torture someone..."

Oh God... Saw franchise... Help!

We come to a door directly in front of us. It's thin, and it's glowing with the slightest bit of blue energy. We both look at it and nod.

"Should we wait here and see who comes out?" asks Tali.

"Of course," I say. "And then we'll just roll with the punches. Or bullets, depending on what greets us."

Tali is silent, regarding me. "If you're trying to be funny, you're failing," she replies bluntly.

Oh. There's my cue to shut up.

"Sorry," I mutter quickly, turning my attention back on the door.

And we just stand there, waiting for something to happen. Tugging on my jacket, I cross my arms as Tali does the same, a pistol in one of her hands. Eventually, we hear the sound of a door whooshing open.

"-if you try anything funny, you're a dead man."

Ah, Wrex. Good to hear you again.

"Of course, of course," says a different voice. "I'll get you to it and-"

Cue the opening of the door. Tali and I just stand there, and I see two women, two men, Wrex, and a turian. All right, darker skin, black hair, that's Ash. The guy who looks sort of like an Asian is Alenko... Damn, he's taller than I thought he'd be... The turian is Garrus, as evidenced by the blue facepaint, and the female... is a female Shepard with dark red hair that falls down her head. Also complete with green eyes. Uh huh. Yep, this is definitely gonna be fun once ME2 rolls around.

The only man I do not completely recognize jumps at seeing us there, and even more so upon seeing Tali. I assume he's Fist. He lets out a short squeal as the others look at him.

"Hello, Fist," intones Tali, her accent hiding a trace of smugness. "I'm sure you recognize me..."

"W... W-w-what...?" asks the human, an absolutely flabberghasted look adorning his features as he speaks. "How...?"

Same thing I asked myself when I got here. "Thanks to myself."

All eyes are on me. Oh... oh shit... They're all looking at me...

Focus. You can be suave. Somehow.

"Well..." I say, suddenly losing my composure. "What I mean is that... well, your bouncers do a really, really bad job of keeping their volume down."

"Or did, seeing as how we killed them all," quips Ashley. "What's this got to do with the matter at hand?"

"Well, I did manage to save her life, and she _is_ standing in front of you..." I point out. "So... You do the math."

"Eavesdropping?" asks Garrus, looking down at me and nodding. "I see..."

"Actually, I think I did the same thing to a krogan earlier," I say, indicating Wrex. "I believe you were talking about how Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?"

If Wrex is surprised, he doesn't show it at all. Good boy. "I was... actually..." he said. "Actually, thinking back, your clothing does look a little familiar..."

I shrug, Tali uncrossing her arms as I do the same. "So it seems your plan to kill me failed," she said.

"But... but this is insanity!" he says. "Nothing... This is... How...?"

"One word too many on your count," I say, shrugging. "You know what they say. What comes around goes around. Now... uh... Your name, krogan?"

"Urdnot Wrex," he replies. Good, wouldn't want to seem like I know too much.

"All right, Urdnot," I say, getting a scornful look from him. I glance at him, and shrug, knowing he'll probably explain it later. (Not like he'll need to, but I'm just playing along here.) "I believe you've got a contract to fulfill?"

He nods, bringing a shotgun out.

Oh no. This is gonna be messy. I can't help but cringe a little bit, knowing that whatever happens next is not going to be very pretty at all.

"Wait, are you-?" begins Kaidan.

"Of course," says Wrex, pulling the shotgun and Fist. "Thank you for reminding me."

"N-no!" shouts Fist as he is grabbed and dragged out. The human has no time to react as the krogan throws him down on the floor, cocking his shotgun. There is no further warning before he fires it at the human, blood plastering the walls behind the human as I cringe. Wow, I am _not_ going to be able to unsee that... It's just so gory. It's definitely a lot worse than it seems in the movies, and especially in the game... Ugh...

Before I get any more time to think about it, Ashley and Kaidan have both drawn their weapons. "Put the gun down, krogan!" shouts Ashley.

Without dropping his firearm, Wrex replies in kind. "The Shadow Broker gave me a job," he replies. "I don't like to leave jobs unfinished."

"But still..." says Kaidan.

I jump to Wrex's rescue. "He was useless anyways since 'the quarian' is still alive," I point out. "Besides, I bet it'll be fun watching him squirm in the ice at the bottom of hell... And then watching as Dante kicks his face a couple of times."

I'm given incredibly odd looks over this. All right, I think something got percieved as out of the ordinary.

"All right, you _definitely_ have a demented imagination," says Tali.

Shepard speaks for the first time. "You don't say," she says.

Why hello there, Jennifer Hale. I was waiting for you to speak up!

"Either way, I'm glad you at least managed to save the quarian," says Garrus. "I was worried about losing my lead."

I nod, looking at the turian. "So you're Detective Vakarian," I say. "We ran into your buddies from C-Sec when we went to check on Dr. Michel. They directed us to you about the evidence since you're looking for a lead on Saren."

The turian nods. "Indeed," he says. "So, I guess you have evidence you would like to present?"

Tali nods simply. "But not here," she says. "We should find somewhere safer. Somewhere far less out in the open."

"We could always use the councillor's office," says Shepard. "It is small and private, and we are not in danger of being overheard."

I nod. "That's always good," I say. "So, to the ambassador's office?"

"Of course," says Shepard. "Let's go. I'm beginning to get sick of this place."

Nodding, we slowly exit the building. A thought suddenly occurs to me as we move along, and I turn to the commander. "Say," I say, nervously. "What about introductions?"

"We'll get to those in a second," says Kaidan.

"Or we could just do them on our way there," replies Shepard. "It'll save a little time if you to get moving quickly."

Yeah, that's not happening. At least, not if I can help it. "Actually, I've got quite a dilemma that's led me to a realization that I want to talk to someone about once we get this whole Saren business settled," I reply with a shrug. "That said, I think it's a better idea to get them out of the way now."

"Then let's get started," says Shepard as we move along.

All right. I wonder if these guys have noticed that suddenly I'm bright and breezy because of all the beautiful and new things I'm learning about them. Most likely day by day.

* * *

We arrive at the councillor's office sometime later. Two dark skinned people are waiting, and one of them is clearly not pleased. And there's Udina. I don't like him all that much, honestly, because he's a squabbling politician like the rest. Never trust squabbling politicians to run anything, especially if that whole health care bit that had taken over Washington was any indication. Standing to the side is Anderson. Oh, sweet! I get to talk to the Shadow Man, who hopefully won't turn me into a frog.

"Shepard, there you are!" he says, his tone obviously angered at something we did. "I have much to discuss with you! What is the matter with you? You go around the citadel, tear up Chora's Den, and fail to save a doctor! Do you have any idea-"

And then he notices Tali and I standing there with our arms crossed. "What's this? A quarian and what I would assume to be an earth-born?" he asks.

"Believe it, sir," is my concise and rather snarky reply. "I've got a rather crazy story behind myself. As for Tali, she's got intel on Saren. Intel I think you'd like to check out."

"Oh?" asks the ambassador. "And what are you doing here? Earth-borns aren't allowed in Citadel offices, and yet-!"

"With all due respect, sir, he did save the quarian's life," says Shepard. Thank you, Shepard! It'll make my favor a little easier to ask later. "He has just as much of a right to be here as the rest of us."

"Besides, it's not entirely my fault I'm here," I add. "And it's not like I have anything else to do." All right, cover story, launch!

"See, around a week ago, me and some friends on Earth were messing around, and somehow I got really high on stimulants and other things," I say. "Trust me, I don't know what I was thinking either. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think I must have stowed away on a cruiser or something, because next thing I know I'm passed out in an alleyway in the Citadel with most of my belongings taken away except for a few items that could be considered family heirlooms. I don't think I got enough to head back to Earth from selling a wallet, though, so I got stuck here. Then today I eavesdropped on a bouncer at Chora's Den and Tali here, and before I know it I'm involved in all of this. So... yeah."

Udina nodded. "I thought stimulants were illegal on Earth," he says.

I shrug. They're still banning drugs in the future? When will these hotshots ever learn? "Just because they're illegal doesn't mean you can't get your hands on some," I say. "By now, though, I think they're out of my system, so here I am. But we're getting off topic. Tali, I believe you had evidence to show us?"

"Ah. Of course," she says, her hand glowing orange yet again as her omni tool comes to life. She types a few things on it, scanning around.

"How did you get the data?" asks Shepard.

"I preserved it from a geth's memory core," replies Tali. "When I heard that the geth had moved beyond the Perseus Veil, I was curious. I tracked a geth patrol to an uncharted area and salvaged its memory core."

This raises some eyebrows. Mine raises a half second after everyone else, but if they notice, they don't say anything. "How do you do that?" asks Kaidan. "I thought geth memory cores erased their data when a geth died?"

"My people created the geth," Tali is quick to point out. "If you are fast and careful, you can preserve a small portion of a geth's memory just before it wipes itself clean. This geth had most of its memory wiped clean, but I was able to salvage something from its audio banks... here we are."

And with this, we hear the sound of air particles bouncing around.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

Aha, there's Saren's voice! It's... a lot grainier than I remember...

"That's definitely Saren's voice," Anderson declares, stepping closer. "This proves he was involved in the Eden Prime attack!"

"But this doesn't answer one of our questions," points out Shepard. "What is the Conduit?"

"It must have something to do with the beacon," Anderson replies. "Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology, like a weapon."

I shrug. "Or it could be some kind of odd technology," I say. "You never can tell with these oddly named objects."

Ashley gives me a glance that successfully gets me to shut up. Shit, I didn't think she could glare at me like that to make me all unnerved. Then again, this _is _real life now and not a game, so yeah...

"There's more," says Tali. "Saren wasn't working alone." She continues playing the audio file, and what we hear surprises us.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

That would be Matriarch Benezia. I'm not going to say anything yet though, because that would give stuff away. Damn, there's a lot of stuff I'll be thinking about when I see events unfold. It's just... insane...

"I don't recognize the other voice," Udina says, rubbing his chin.

"And just what are the reapers?" asks Ashley, crossing her arms.

Tali seemed to acknowledge this, and going through her omni tool, she read a few things. "According to the geth's memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago," she explains. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction and then they vanished."

Shepard slowly brings a hand to her head, her fingers just resting over her temples as she ponders something.

"Seems a little far-fetched," points out Udina.

Oh, boy. The skeptic is gonna be proven wrong on waaaaay too many accounts now that he's said that. You'd think a boy coming in from another universe would be far-fetched. You might not know that it's what really happened, but trust me, if I'm here, the Reapers exist.

"The vision I had on Eden Prime..." says Shepard suddenly. "I think I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods," Tali replies. "They believe Saren knows how to bring them back. It would explain why he would use them..."

Udina shakes his head, a hand covering his face. "The Council is going to love this," he says sarcastically.

"They're also going to love the whole bit about Saren," I point out.

"Either way, they need to hear this," adds Shepard. "It proves that Saren is a traitor to the Citadel."

The councillor seems to really dislike where this is going, but I think he agrees with us on Saren. "You're right," he says. "We need to present this to the council right away."

"And what of the quarian and the earth-born?" asks Anderson, indicating the two of us.

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," reiterates Tali for the third time since I've known her. "Please, Shepard, I would appreciate it very much if you could take me with you."

Shepard crosses her arms, looking at both of us. "We can't be sure of your combat skills," she says.

I shrug. "Well, when I saved her life, all I really did was provide a distraction that could give her more time to draw her gun and shoot. I only got one guy in as opposed to her two, really," is my reply. "So I think she's a good warrior."

"Hm..." says Shepard, rubbing her chin. "Well, all right. We could use the help against Saren in the future."

Tali seems quite happy at this, bowing politely. "Thank you!" she says. "I'll do my best to assist you!"

"Which leaves the earth-born," adds Udina.

Jeez, what's with this Earth-born thing? I do have a name, you know! Ah, we'll get that out of the way eventually.

"My name is ****** *********," I reply, crossing my arms. "And... well, to be honest, I was going to try to find my way to earth, but by now I'm so deeply involved in this whole Saren business I might as well see it to the end."

Ashley gives me an odd look. "According to what you've told us so far, you have no military training, are a little out of shape, and used your first firearm barely two hours ago," she replies. "What can you show us to show that you can get in shape fast enough to help?"

"I don't have anything," I say, shaking my head. "But sooner or later Saren's going to find out that I helped you guys out. And I don't know if he'll have time or not, but he'll probably be coming for me when he does. I don't think I could stand up to Saren in my current state, and I'm one of a very small amount of people that knows the specifics of all this..."

"Protection..." mutters Kaidan. "He's got a point Shepard."

"That he does," comments the commander. "But we can always take you on as a non-ground unit. You don't have to go down and fight things with us."

Well... "I don't want that, though," I reply, shaking my head. "You guys are going off to do great things, I can tell. I know I can't exactly do much right at this moment, but this sounds like an opportunity that's too incredible to pass up. And... I don't know, ma'am. But I'd like to help you guys any way I can, and I don't think sitting on a ship waiting for you to come back is going to do it. I'll work as hard as I have to to make sure I can help you out if you take me on, you have my word on that."

"Sounds like he really wants to help," says Garrus.

"He doesn't have combat training," reiterates Ash as she crosses her arms. "But he's got a strong will Commander."

"Yes, that he does..." says Shepard. She pauses then, looking at me intently. Okay... she's scrutinizing me now. This is a little unsettling, but hey, what can I do? Finally, she straightens up, nodding. Oh... that's a good sign.

"Very well," she says. "We'll take you on the team and have the _Normandy'_s physician do a physical on you so we can gauge how long you have until we can let you onto the battlefield."

I nod, bowing politely. "Thank you," I say. "I'll work very hard to make sure you don't regret that decision."

Anderson nods at this, looking at all of us. "We shouldn't delay any longer," he says. "We should take this evidence to the Council!"

"My thoughts exactly," replies Shepard. "Come on; let's go to the council."

Nodding, we all walk out of the ambassador's office.

* * *

All right, I'm part of the _Mass Effect _crew right now! Sweetness! I get the terrible feeling I'll be the worst member of the squad, but we'll see how things turn out. Right now, I can imagine Chakwas going through with me and seeing what is going down with my physical health. It'll also be interesting to see what the crew does when they're not standing in one place waiting for you to go talk with them. And also, what do we do when we try to get some sleep?

Ah, well. Right now, it's just me, Wrex, Ashley, Kaidan, and Garrus waiting around the elevators to the council. Tali and Shepard went up with Anderson and Udina to present their evidence.

Garrus crosses his arms. "So, Art," he says, crossing his arms. "I take it this is all surreal for you, seeing as how you were born on earth and your trip on the Citadel ended with you joining the hunt for a Specter."

For once, I can indulge in the truth. "You have no idea," I say, shaking my head. "This is quite a transition from being a musician..."

"I can imagine," says Kaidan, shrugging as I look out at the view of the Citadel. "Since you're a musician... what did you do before you came here?"

Looking back, I nod. "I was primarily a composer," I say, shrugging. "I wrote stuff. And on the side, I also played the viola." I better not mention my musical taste. Not until I can tell which composers the two universes share in common. I already know that Carl Nielsen is here thanks to that conversation after Miranda's loyalty mission in the second game, and I'm pretty sure Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are here, as I heard excerpts of Beethoven and Mozart works in a few vid advertisements. We'll have to see.

"So you wrote _and_ played," replies Kaidan, interest lacing his voice. "Interesting..."

"It's pretty crazy, actually," I say, shrugging. "I'm actually kind of interested to see what the music scene is like over here. I bet it's interesting, given that there are also chances to hear the music of other races... That said, I wonder if krogan have any music. It would be... interesting, to say the least..."

Wrex gives me an odd look. "We used to," he replies. "But now, things have... changed."

He's a bit monotone in his reply, but I can sense the depression in his voice. Nodding, I look at him. "I see..." I say. "It's a real shame that... I've heard about the genophage and all that, and... Well, I honestly never thought I'd ever meet a krogan to say this to, but... I hope someone can reverse it."

Wrex nods his head, scarlet eyes looking at me. "We don't need your condolences," he says. "But thanks. It's good to know that some peope sympathize with our race."

I nod in reply, thining about the _Normandy_. Well, being aboard the _Normandy_ will be fun. A turian, a quarian, a krogan, and four humans. That'll be interesting, to say the least. Especially when we throw the asari into the mix. Hoo, boy. Talk about being a ragtag bunch of misfits... Especially since we have a former C-Sec officer, three soldiers, a mercenary, a mechanic, a musician, and a scientist all working together to bring down Saren Aertius.

We continue the conversation, but my mind can't wander away from that little bit. This really is a very interesting squad. And for my money, I honestly can't wait until we get back to the ship. That's when the real fun will begin.

As they say, "let the good times roll".


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Okay, we're back with some more of this._

_Hoo, boy, last chapter was an incredibly long one. I wonder if I can keep up with that and do stuff..._

_Well, I guess we better get a chapter out of the way where stuff happens. Let's get going._

* * *

"_Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy,  
When I am with you, getting to know what to say,  
Haven't you noticed suddenly I'm bright and breezy?  
Because of all the beautiful and new  
Things I'm learning about you,  
Day by day!_"

-Richard Rodgers

* * *

Chapter 2: Elgar: Introduction and Allegro

All right, we're in front of the _Normandy_ now.

Shepard managed to convince the council to get us to chase after Saren. So now we're heading back to our ship. Anderson pulls Shepard to the side, wanting to talk with her briefly.

The _Normandy_ looks majestic from here...

At least, it would be if everything wasn't so god damn blurry from here. Fuck my nearsightedness. The biggest reason I was able to make stuff out was because of color. I can still detect color. But when something is about two feet away from me, it comes out a little blurry. That's my eyesight in a nutshell. I hope Chakwas has an easy fix to that, but it'll have to wait for other things to happen before I attend to that. And yes, I was wearing glasses, but I think I must have lost them somewhere, because I don't know where the hell they are.

Whatever. Just roll with the punches right now.

We get to the airlock on the _Normandy_. I look to Tali as the rest of the gang gets closer.

"Well, looks like this will be our new home for a while," I say. Uh... shit, it sounds like I'm already married to her...

"I'm looking forward to it," she says cheerfully.

"I just hope that we'll be able to get Saren somehow," says Garrus, shaking his head behind me. "He is giving turians a bad name as we speak, I bet."

I nod, crossing my arms and looking at him. I give him a smile. "Don't worry, Detective Vakarian. We'll get him," I say. "And we'll make him pay."

I say it to lift his spirits. But also, because it will happen. I left out the part where we can talk him into committing suicide, but hey, you make do with what you've got.

He nods. "Why so formal, though?" he asks.

I roll my eyes as the air lock opens, and we all enter. "Well, you do have to admit, it's got a ring to it," I say. "Detective Vakarian. Perfectly tinny sort of phrase, in a good way. Detective Vakarian... Detective Vakarian... Why is it all those kinds of titles tend to make words that ring?"

"Better question," says Ashley, crossing her arms. "Why do you even care how much ring is in a name and title?"

I give her a confused glance. "Because I'm a musician and I like sound?" I ask, shrugging.

She rolls her eyes once before uncrossing her arms. "If you want to put it like that," she says, annoyance creeping in her voice as we exit the airlock. "But I really don't want to hear about it."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "I'm annoying you with my constant monologuing, aren't I?" I asked.

"Yes," she says simply. We leave the conversation at this as she walks off.

Kaidan shoots me a glance before he walks off as well. Oh, dear. I think he's suspecting me of something. Leave it to the biotic to be skeptical. Then again, I can't say I blame him all that much...

"Seems like you get along really well with people not of your species." Thank you for stating the obvious, Wrex.

"Seems like it indeed," I say, crossing my arms.

Garrus glances down at me, nodding. "I'm guessing you did have some pretty odd friends back on Earth," he says.

At this, I can't help but burst out laughing. It's a brief spell, though, and then all of the others are looking oddly at me. "I'm a bit wacky myself," I admit. "But I always tend to make friends with people that are either older than I am or that are exceedingly... different from what most humans my age are accustomed to."

"I can see a nice, healthy blend of both as it stands," says Tali, glancing briefly at the turian and the krogan.

At this, I have a hard time holding back a chuckle. Garrus seems to share my sentiment, his mood seeming to light up a bit.

"Yeah, this will be fun indeed," I say. "I'll see you guys around. I was told that I had to find one Dr. Chakwas before I did anything else on this ship. Get my physical done."

"All right," says Tali as I walk away. "We'll see you around.

I swear the three of them are continuing to talk about me behind my back, but I don't exactly mind. I just have to get used to the Normandy is all. That shouldn't be too hard...

* * *

Okay, it's harder than it looks. Jeez, why can't the SSV Normandy and the Normandy SR-2 be similar? Okay, I officially can't wait for the sequel to come around...

But... I think I'm close to the med bay nevertheless. I see an older woman with short blonde hair outside, looking around. Ah, she's rather attractive...

And I'm sizing up someone who's very much older than me. Squick ensues.

I smile, nodding to her. "Hello," I say. "You must be Dr. Chakwas."

The woman turns to face me, and I see the features. Yep, definitely Dr. Chakwas. "Ah, you must be Mr. *********," she says. "Welcome aboard the Normandy."

"Thank you, doctor," I say. "I'm guessing that Shepard called ahead to let you know to get a physical prepared?"

"That she did," replies the doctor. "It is so odd that someone with no military training would boad this ship, I should think."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather find out what the whole deal is with this than have one of the galaxy's finest trained soldiers hunting me because I got myself involved in something," I say with a dismissive hand wave. That, and I won't have any purpose here otherwise.

We both enter the med bay. She gestures to one of the beds as she gets a datapad from somewhere.

"Please take a seat," she says. "I'd like to ask you a few questions before we get into the greater part of the physical exam."

"Of course," I say, settling on the bed and rubbing my hands together. She sits there, going through the datapad and presumably preparing the questions she would ask me. Finally, she stands in front of me, authority crouching over her.

"All right," she said. "First, what are your earth weight and height?"

I shrug. "I'm 5 feet 6 and a half inches tall," I say. "And I don't know my weight, but when I last checked my weight it was somewhere between 150 and 160 pounds."

"Hm." Chakwas' eyes widen slightly in surprise as she types something in on it. "That's actually not a bad weight for your height."

"That's what they all say," I reply. "And yet I still don't feel totally secure with my weight. That'll change, though."

"Indeed it will," replies Chakwas, smirking good-naturedly. "Next question. Have you had any history of physical handicaps that you feel we should know about?"

Well, there's an obvious question. "I'm near-sighted, actually," I say.

She shoots me a glance. "And you haven't gotten it corrected?" she asks. "The surgery is available for a very nominal price these days."

I shake my head. "I wore glasses before I wound up in the Citadel," I reply, crossing my arms. "I didn't really see a need to get the surgery since I got so used to it that it became second nature to me. Now that I've been separated from them, though..."

She nods, typing things down in the datapad. "First thing we do when you have some spare time is that we'll have to get those eyes fixed," she said. "We can replicate that surgery here on the Normandy, quite thankfully."

I nod. "I appreciate it, doctor," I say.

"All right," she says. "Anything else you think we should know about?"

"Not that I know of," I say. "I also don't have any allergies, if it falls under handicaps."

Chakwas raises an eyebrow briefly before chuckling and typing things down on the datapad. "Not quite, but it saves me the trouble of asking the next question," is her reply.

I chuckled in reply, swinging my legs slightly as I reposition myself on the berth. Honestly, I've never felt so comfortable around a doctor before in my life. I blame it on the fact that she drinks Serrice Ice Brandy when she's not tending to patients, but overall I really like how she's making me feel easy. It's like being... comfortable. And I like it when things are professional, but not really. It makes me feel comfortable.

Especially critical since I'm not even from this universe. She doesn't need to know that, though.

"Skipping over that..." she continues. "Any hereditary problems?"

"My family has a history of heart disease," I say, shrugging. "I'm sure if I keep my health in good shape, though, I'll be fine."

"I see..." she says, noting it down on the data pad. "Any other history? Serious illness? Serious injury?"

I shake my head. "Not particularly," I say. "I sprained my right knee in two separate accidents on Earth, but that was years upon years ago. In terms of serious illness, I think the worst I've gotten was a really bad cold."

"Indicative of a nice, strong immune system," she says, smiling. "I think that will make disinfecting your wounds a little easier should you get any particularly nasty ones."

I shrug. "True that," I say. "But then again, I did live in an area where lots of citrus was grown, so I like to think that helped."

She nods in agreement, noting that on the datapad. "All right," she says. "Now, I heard from Shepard that you are able to put one of your legs behind your neck. Scarily flexible, if I recall."

Oh, boy, here we go. I let out a short laugh. "Actually, if you can believe it, I used to be able to do it with _both_ of my legs," I reply. "I don't know if I can still do it, and if I can I definitely won't be able to hold it as long."

"You won't have to demonstrate that," she said, noting it on the datapad. "Any history of athletics?"

"Mostly around middle school," I say. "I ran track and field for two years, and also did Tae Kwon Do up to around a red belt. But that was years ago, so yeah..."

She shrugs, taking note of it. "It's better than nothing," she replies. "Especially going on such a mission."

"I guess..." I say, shrugging as I shift yet again.

She nods, looking at the datapad. "Ever done drugs?" she asks. "Alcohol?"

Oh, dear. "I did a hell of a lot of stimulants to get onto the Citadel," I say. "Alcohol, I've used a few times. Usually lighter faire, though, and never enough to make me not remember what I did the previous night. Other than that, nothing."

She nods, typing away on the datapad. She mutters a few things as she fills in some last blanks. "Age?" she asks.

"Nineteen," I reply. "Going on twenty pretty soon."

At this, she jerks slightly, and looks up from the datapad. "You're only nineteen and you tried stimulants?" she asked.

I shrug. "Again, I don't know what the hell I was thinking," I say. "Blame it on me being naive..."

"Still, that is worrisome," she said, shrugging. "You might get into an addiction later in life."

Rolling my eyes, I snort derisively. "As if," I say. "Music is my drug; if I'm bored, I just hum a random orchestral piece. Hell, you know what the worst part about real life is? It's that there's no incidental music playing in the background!"

I say the last sentence in such an upbeat and over-dramatized manner that her mood goes from sour to jolly as she snorts, trying poorly to hide her laughter. I smile at this. Yay, an attempt at being funny that someone actually found funny!

When she calms down, she smiles at me. "If you say so," she says. "Still, I would advise you to be careful around stimulants."

"Of course, doctor," I say, biting back the urge to retort with a 'yes, mother' reply. "Any more questions?"

She shakes her head, putting the datapad on the berth behind her. "No," she replies with a kind nod. "Follow me."

I get off of the berth and follow her, crossing my arms as she led me to a machine. Oh, hey, looks like an advanced MRI. And... Wait, it has other things I can just barely make out. What...?

"Is that...?" I ask.

"It will be the first part of the physical," she says, going to a virtual control panel and looking at the piece of technology. "This will scan your vital signs, and your health. I will ask that you do a few physical things afterwards, but this will cover most of the exam."

My dad would _kill _to see this, much less to repair it. Oh, boy...

"I see..." I said. "Interesting indeed..."

Chakwas nods, and then a bed is laid out from the machine. I know what to do. I lay down on the small berth, adjusting myself so that my hands are on my belly. Wait... shit, I've never even been in an MRI before! How am I supposed to get used to this?

The answer is provided as the doctor looks over me. "Try to relax," she says. "This process can take upwards of fifteen minutes. Scanners will go over your entire body, and a few might get very close, so just relax and you should be fine."

"All right, doctor," I say.

Just treat it like a facial. Close your eyes, and go to sleep. It should be simple, right?"

"All right," she says, returning to the control panel. "I'll be starting the exam... now."

And then the berth slowly retreats into the device. I go through it, and all is quiet as I close my eyes and wiggle my shoulders slightly.

* * *

And, we're just at the end of the physical.

"All right, Mr. *********, you can put your shirt back on."

I do so, and then I look to the doctor. "How'd the whole thing go?" I ask.

She takes a look at the datapad that had stored all of the information from the odd MRI-looking contraption, and she gave it a quick glance-over before nodding.

"Better than I expected," she says. "You should be able to get in shape following a strict excercise regimen that we should start today. If we get started now, you might only have to sit out of one mission before you can be useful to the team."

I rose an eyebrow, knowing what this meant. "Really?" I ask. "I was expecting more than that..."

"So was I, I'll admit," replies Chakwas, looking at the data pad with a smile. "Of course, you will have to go to the gym at least once every day, but I think if you exercise, you can be on a mission sooner."

I nod at this. "I like the idea," I say uncertainly. "I don't know if I'll be able to stick to a schedule, though..."

Chakwas nods supportingly. "I'll remind you every day to do so," she says. "We'll know for sure when you run into trouble in a few combat simulations we have planned for you."

I blink. That wasn't mentioned in the game. But then again, it's probably for the better, as it works out in my favor. "I see," I say. "And also, because I need to learn how to use a firearm..."

She nods. "Shepard will have Ashley attend to that with you," she replies. Oh, goody. I get to hang out with Ashley, who I get the feeling won't like me all that much. Yipee kay yay.

I don't say it, of course, nodding instead. "I see," I say. "Well, will that be all with me today?"

"Yes," replies Chakwas, typing a few things on the datapad. "I'll forward the information to the Alliance and to Shepard's personal terminal, so you should get started on your weight loss regime."

I nod, stepping off of the berth. "All right, doctor," I say. "I'll get right to it. Oh, and when do you want me to come for eye surgery."

"I'll prepare it for tomorrow morning," she says. "I'll be waiting for you as soon as breakfast is out."

"All right," I say. "Tomorrow morning after break..." Wait a second. If I wake up early again... "Actually, scratch that," I say. "Can you do it before breakfast?"

She shakes her head in reply. "I don't think so," replies Chakwas. "I know I won't be up at that time, so after breakfast. Besides, you need to lay down with your eyes covered for a few hours after the procedure, or else you could risk going blind..."

"I see..." I say, rubbing my chin. "All right, doctor. I'll see you tomorrow after breakfast, then."

Now, I'm not sure where the _Normandy'_s gym is, but I'm sure I'll find it eventually. And so I nod to Chakwas, a maternal smile coming over her.

"Take care of yourself," she says.

"You too," I say, turning briefly before exiting the door. "We wouldn't want our medic to be injured!"

And with that, I leave the med bay, feeling great about myself. All right, I may only have to sit out of one mission! This will be quite fun. And now, I just have to do a lot of cardio and a little bit of strength training. I know I can move fast, and that I can get behind cover quickly, so I should be fine.

Shrugging, I go to one of the elevators on the Normandy. I'm not looking forward to how slow these damn things will be, but we'll see what happens soon enough. All right, press the button, and wait.

* * *

I found the gym all right. It's a bit of a dark place, but it's still looking rather cheerful compared to the rest of the ship. I'm with Yahtzee on this one: why is it that these kinds of futuristic ships are always painted monochrome grey? Isn't that... not homely? Anyway, there's a mirror, and the lights are pretty bright in here, so yeah. There is lots of equipment, some of it virtual and most of it physical. Good; at least they weren't taking shortcuts on health in the future. That said, though, I wonder how bad the obesity rate is... I know a few people who would like to comment on that. Especially Dr. Kern.

Ah, Dr. Kern. Thinking of this gym made me think about you and your notoriety throughout my high school. You were just so fit... And being a 70-year-old person, that's quite a feat that you were able to teach five periods of physical education in a row. I laugh when I remember our running joke in the school; very few things would be left in Miami if someone dropped a nuclear bomb of it. The punchline is that Dr. Kern was one of those things. And honestly, I could totally see it happen. In a word, Dr. Kern was the Chuck Norris of our school. Especially when we were getting CPR certifications in Health the next half of the year. My certification expired quite some time ago, but I still hang on to my card.

Oh... I wonder what she would say about all this equipment. She'd like that we're still using weights and stuff, and that there are ways of doing cardio in here. I just hope she won't mind the mess hall, though, 'cause damn me if that was not one hyper cheesy cheeseburger that I saw in the line. I didn't eat it, but I feel sorry for anyone who did. And their broccoli tasted a little over-processed... Shit, I can't wait until we get shore leave on the Citadel. Because then... restaurant time!

I was running on a futuristic treadmill (damn, does everything use holographic projection in his day and age?) when I hear footsteps by me. I feel eyes gazing on me, and then I look down to find Shepard there, looking at me with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Art," she says.

I look at her, smiling. "Hey there, Shepard," I reply. "Did you want to talk for a few minutes?"

"Yes," she says, crossing her arms in front of me. "Chakwas told me you might be here, and... well, she was right."

I nod, navigating the menus and stopping my program. I look down as the conveyor belt slows to a stop, and I grip the sides of the treadmill as I step onto the sides of the conveyor belt. The belt stops, and I hop off the treadmill, glancing at her with a smile on my face.

"I thought I'd get started on the exercise routine," I say, nodding. "Chakwas told me I would only need to sit out of one mission before I could join you guys on the ground."

She nods. "She told me the same thing," she replies. "How are you reacting to your new regimen?"

I shrug while looking at the treadmill behind me. "I'm struggling a little," I say. "But you know what they say: keep pushing yourself, and you'll get results."

"Just don't push yourself too hard," she says. "We don't want you suffering an injury."

I wave a hand dismissively, chuckling. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that," I say. "I'm usually so overworked about whether something is safe or not that... well, you know..." I lift my hands then. "Plus, I've had years of attempting to keep my hands safe," I add to that. "Comes as part of the job description when you're a musician, really."

She rose an eyebrow at this. I shrugged as I continue. "Well, you know, I need my fingers to write music, and if I don't have any fingers on my left hand I can't exactly produce any notes on a viola," I add.

She nods. "I see," she says. "But you never can be too careful. Exercise caution."

"I will," I assure her. "I'll do my best, at any rate."

Things are a little quiet between us, and then I look to her. "So I heard at the mess hall today that Captain Anderson is no longer with us," I say.

"Indeed he is not," she replies. "He passed control of the ship on to me just after you entered the Normandy. I'm now your superior officer, Mr. *********. And it's my responsibility to make sure you get out of this all right." She pats my shoulder. "Be careful, Art. The last thing we need is for a man to die out there."

I nod. "I will, Commander!" Yay, I get to call her Commander now! That makes me... a little excited, of course.

Shepard nods in reply. "You have anything else you might want to tell me before we call it on?" she asks.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," I say. "Since I've never handled a firearm before, what shall we do about that?"

Shepard chuckled. "Simple," she replies. "I'll have Ash teach you, of course."

Oh, dear. I can already tell that I'll be getting on her nerves... That is not going to be fun. Especially since she looks like the type that'll explode on me if I so much as step the wrong way. And especially not since she doesn't seem to like me right now...

"Oh, dear," I say, rubbing my head. "That is going to be painful..."

Shepard shrugs. "You're used to taking lessons from people, right?" she asks.

Thinking about it, I frown and nod. "Yeah, but I get the distinct feeling I'm annoying Ashley with my tendency to go on about long tangents that have nothing to do with anything," I say. "And I'm pretty sure it'll end up with me having a few teeth knocked out."

Shepard chuckles at this, although whether it's from my overacting or not I can't exactly gauge. Nor do I really want to. "Ash seems like she has more patience than that with a firearm," she says. "You're in good hands, don't worry."

Thinking a little bit, I shrug. "All right," I say. "I'll bear with it. For now. But if I walk into the med bay with a bruised nose one of these days, I'm pulling 'the spiel'!"

Inquisitively, my commander crossed her arms. "The spiel?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say, nodding. "That one where I moan the fact that my pleas fall on deaf ears... Happens all the time. I may or may not give it, but you know... I don't exactly like to be ignored."

At this, her expression is a little miffed. "Don't worry, Art, I'm not trying to ignore you," she says.

I glance back at her as I climb back onto the treadmill. "It's only if I feel like it," I say a little naively. "I know you're not ignoring me. After all, you said it was your job to look after me, right? And since you look out for your underlings, you're listening to me."

Shepard smiles at this as she uncrosses her arms. "By the way, we'll need to get you your Omni-tool," she says. For now, I'm leaving it with Ash. She'll give it to you when you start your training."

Sweet! I get to have an omni tool! "All right," I say.

She nods at me. "I'll leave you alone now," she said. "You get yourself in good shape after this coming mission, all right?"

"Of course," I reply, smiling as I go through the treadmill menus again. "Thanks for talking with me, Shepard."

"Any time, Art," she says.

With this she leaves. I hesitate at the menu I'm on, thinking about how Shepard must be to her friends. If what I just witnessed was any indication, we'll be fine. She definitely likes to check up on her crew, just like we can make her do in the games. It's fun, honestly. Nevertheless, I have no attraction to her. I mean, I'm way younger than she is! Probably not enough squickiness to match up to Dr. Chakwas, but still...

Wait, why do I always undress people, anyway? Why? What is going on?

Ah, well. At least I think I can be friendly with Shepard. I don't know how she works yet, but she looks like a Paragon Shepard too. Paragon Shepards are always nice. I don't really see a point for Renegade Shepard unless you want to get some of the game's funnier bits, but we'll see how that goes.

I just hope she punched Khalisa al-Jilani on her way here. The bitch deserves it, and it's one of the few renegade interrupts I'll stand behind.

* * *

I did some more exercise before calling it a day, hitting the showers as soon as I had finished working out. When I exited, I though I'd go hang out with a few of the crew members before dinner. After thinking a little bit, I thought I should hang out with Tali briefly, as I want to get to know her a little better. True, there's the game, but still, I wish I could get to know her outside of it. After all, her recruitment changed when I showed up, so you never know if she did too.

Ah, well. I... Shit, I just realized I lost the game. Fuck me! Fuck!

Ah, well. If I remember correctly, Tali was down in Engineering in both of the games. So yeah. I walk down there, and I see my first drive core.

Wow. It looks even better than it does in the game. The large silver ball levitates in the air, blue sparks flying off of it every so often. I can imagine a choir singing in the background... Wow, this looks really majestic, it does. There's a sheen to it that it doesn't have in the game. And... wow, I can't believe I'm looking at this technology! I lean over the engine room, looking at it. It's fascinating to watch... Especially the sparks. They're all blurry right now, but I can still see how they arc around the core. It's fascinating as they jump around, leaving brief impressions of forest twigs, and never once being exactly the same. And the sparks are so quiet, too... It's... serene...

"I see your attention is caught on that."

Tali. I hear her footsteps coming up behind me, and I can imagine her in her Mass Effect 2 outfit. Oh, damn it, Art, she's not that color yet! She won't get it until after her pilgrimage! Ah, well.

I look up at the core, leaning against the railing as I do so.

"Yeah," I say. "This core... It looks amazing. It's too bad it's all a blur for me right now."

I can feel Tali shift behind me. "Really?" she asks. "Is... this relating to eye problems that I hear are common among humans?"

"Yep," I say, folding my hands together. "I have what they would call 'near-sightedness'."

I turn around and face her, feeling a little disappointed that she's not in her much more attractive ME2 outfit. "Like, let's put it in relation to you," I say. "I can see everything close to me fine. It all looks fine there. But without correction, everything from about a foot in front of that face mask of yours comes out blurry. And as an object gets farther away from you, it only gets worse. Eventually, you lose sight of the edges of every object you see."

"Doesn't sound good for fighting things," she tells me.

"From a distance, no," I say. "I had glasses, but I lost track of them when I woke up on the Citadel. I'm getting corrective surgery done tomorrow, though, so I think I'll be able to see normally without them anyway."

I don't think she had an idea what glasses are, but I think she understood their function, so she nods. "But can you still make things out?"

Common misconception much? Whatever. "Yeah," I reply. "I can still make out colors from quite a distance away. It's just that after a certain distance, the objects become difficult to distinguish. So that's me."

She crosses her arms. "I see," she says as she walks next to me on the little platform I'm standing on.

We're both silent for a little bit, and we're not inclined to talk that much. Looking at the drive core, I decide a change of subject is in order. "So, I guess you've been on the fleet before your Pilgrimage?"

"For my entire life," replies Tali. "We only leave the fleet if we are on our Pilgrimage, or if we have been exiled. Some choose to stay where they are during the course of their Pilgrimage, but their children are welcomed back to the fleet."

I nod, and I turn to face her. "And what about the Pilgrimage?" I ask. "I'm not sure I know too much about that, but..."

Tali shrugs "It's a coming of age for the quarian people," she replies. "We use it to find anything that can be useful to the fleet. Once we do, we go back. And then... our name changes."

I raise my eyebrow, playing along. But it is still something I need to ask. I gesture, frowning slightly. "Well, don't you think it's a bit much to change your name when you complete a Pilgrimage?" I ask. "I don't know because I'm not a quarian, but... doesn't that get a little confusing? I know for my money I would have a tough time getting used to calling someone else a different name after they get something for the fleet."

She shakes her head. "Not really," she says. "If we're lucky and our ships are not destroyed, we only have to change our name once. And even then, it is not too complicated."

"I see..." I say, rubbing my chin. "You know, it's funny you should refer to it as a 'coming of age' thing, because on Earth all the coming of age things have religious significance to them, and not merely "we need to get stuff done physically". I mean, there's education, but that hardly counts given how I think of it..."

She tilts her head to the side. "Quarians are different in that regard," she says. "We... we were kicked off of the homeworld by the geth, and now we live in close quarters. We have to prove that we can be useful. Or else..."

I nod, crossing my arms as I lean against the rail. "Uh-huh," I say, thinking of what to ask next. "I don't know too much about the geth, but what I do know is that they weren't originally sentient the way they are now."

"They were not," replies Tali, confirming that the geth are still like they are in the game. "They developed it on their own. But when they asked us if they had a soul, we... panicked, for lack of a better word. The geth were a mistake."

Oh, dear. I hope we can get Legion once ME2 rolls around. I'd like to tell him that I think he has a soul. "Well, I don't know about that," I say. "Do you think they would have reacted differently if the quarians hadn't been so afraid of them? Maybe told them they did have a soul?"

She seems ready to reply, but she pauses. A three-fingered hand goes to her face mask, uncertain of what to say after that. Aha, I think I hit a nerve. We'll have to see how she recovers from that, and what she thinks about it.

"You know..." she says. "Now that you put it like that... I'm not sure many of us think of it that way. But I would not know."

I nod, holding my hands out as I get off the railway. "Exactly," I say. "AI may be a crapshoot, but you never know."

"It's not that simple," replies Tali, looking down at the ground. "The Council has many anti-AI laws to prevent cases like what happened. Despite everything else, we were unable to keep down the threat. When the Council found out, we were stripped of our embassy there and left to our own resources. And now... there is much racism against members of our species. And it's kind of heart-breaking, really."

At this, I tensed, looking at Tali. "Shit..." I say. "That's..." I shake my head, a frown coming to my face as rage bubbles inside of me. I know they already did that, but still... It's unspeakably cruel. "So you made a being that earned sentience on its own. I don't think it's justifiable to destroy a peoples' credibility when it wasn't even their own fault that they gained sentience!"

I shake my head and look out to the drive core. "That makes me a little sick," I say. "My species is hardly one to talk, if our multiple instances of fantastic racism say anything, but still... You can't just be denied your basic fucking rights because of something that was out of your control." I shake my head. "People are fucking idiots in every race, it seems..."

She glances at me, and I feel my rage boiling down slightly. She seems to retreat slightly, and then comes forward.

"It's a little more complicated," she says. "But... I can see what you are saying. It... It feels different to know a non-quarian sees our plight as such."

I nod, turning around to face her. "Maybe there's a way we can get you to return to your homeworld?" I ask.

"I don't know," she says uncertainly. "The geth are still on the planet, and we have no way to get it back without losing a huge part of the fleet. The Council is of no help, as they've refused to help us defeat them. The quarian people know this, and... it won't be so simple to get the home world back."

Note to self: ask Legion about Rannoch. And then, get him to follow up on that. And then get the quarians to see that not all geth are evil. But I don't say any of that, 'cause that would prove I know too much. And besides, we haven't found Legion yet and we won't find him for a few years, so it's not worth mentioning now anyway.

But I do smile and walk away from the drive core. "I think there must be a way that we can do it without bloodshed," I say. "There has to be."

Tali looks at me readily. "That is quite naive thinking you have there," she says.

I turn the conversation on its head. "It's not that simple," I reply. "But when you think about it, nothing is. I'm going to go hang out with a few more crew members. I'll see you around, Tali."

She nods. "Of course," she says. "Oh, and thank you for saving my life back on the Citadel."

Pausing, I roll my eyes. Oh, dear, she hasn't stopped thanking me about that. "Tali, you've thanked me enough," I say. "But all the same, you're welcome."

And with that, I leave the drive core behind. Time to figure out where the rest of the crew is.

* * *

I sought out Wrex after that. He seems like a pretty cool guy even if he is a bit brutish. Especially if the badassery he displayed with killing Fist says anything.

I eventally find him looking at the Mako from where we are. Ah, yes, that thing. The object of wrath of many players, the least of who included Yahtzee last I checked. I'm not looking forward to riding that thing if the physics for it really are as trampoline-like as I think they are. We'll have to see...

Meanwhile, there he is. I approach him, and he casts a glance at me with... Oh, god, the glance is creeeeeepyyyyy...

Okay, no time to think about that now.

"Hi, Wrex," I say, nodding. "Hopefully I got the name right this time."

"You did," he confirms, giving me a look on his face that shows he is not all too pleased at me. "Earthborns always tend to be racist like that. Especially young ones."

I frown slightly. "Well, that's hardly fair," I say. "Besides, look who's talking."

Wrex gives me an odd look. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"Well, let me put it this way," I say, gesturing with my hands. "I hear your name is "Urdnot Wrex". The first thing that comes to mind is 'oh, his name must be Urdnot, and his family name is Wrex'. So I assumed something that was totally wrong."

"I guess you're going to say something about how I just did the same thing to you," he replies.

I point my finger at him, smiling coyly. "Bingo," I say. "We both made judgements that aren't necessarily true."

"I see," he says. "I still hold it against you."

I shrug, closing my eyes briefly as I sauntered over so I was looking at the Mako myself. "Well, let me put it this way," I say. "_Everyone_ makes judgements based on race. _Everyone_'s a little bit racist. But that doesn't mean we go around committing hate crimes. If we only realized that, maybe it could help us get along."

He nods. "I guess," he says. "But still... it also has to do with the fact that Shepard let a weakling on her ship."

I give him a sidelong glance, knowing almost as soon as the words leave his mouth that he's talking about me. "I don't like that, but I like it that you're at least telling me head on," I say. "I dunno about you, but I absolutely fuckin' _hate_ it when people talk behind my back about stuff like that."

"You seem like a more sensitive type," he replies. "A thinker. On Tuchanka, that would get you killed."

I shrug, tilting my head to the side for the briefest second. "Well, being sensitive doesn't always make you weak," I say. "I mean, I've never fought in wars, but I think you should give me a little more credit here." After all, I _did_ get Ethan to chop his finger off in _Heavy Rain_. That was incredibly difficult to watch and it still makes my heart race thinking about that, but I think I can hold my ground. "I mean, I'm one of those people that draws inner strength from thinking a lot. So I'm out of shape and haven't fought in a war before. Okay. I'd rather listen to music than shoot someone. That's fine too. But I can learn to live with myself, and I think that's the most important thing."

He is silent for a brief period of time, and I can't read his expression. Damn krogan expressions being too hard to read! After a bit, he nods.

"Young and naive," he says, crossing his arms. "Life will eventually break you."

I understand where he's coming from. The poor guy killed his own father when a disagreement in views came about. I don't press it, though.

"Not surprising you should say that, seeing as how I'm only 19," I say. "But still, I think it's possible to keep that kind of outlook on life even in extremely old age."

He shakes his head. "Not when you can live to be a thousand years old like I have," he replies. "But then, you probably don't know that either."

"Don't worry, I know about your lifespan," I say. "If I know about the genophage, I at least know something about you guys. But still... Maybe they'll be a way."

He grunts noncommittingly. "Your innocence will be the end of you," he tells me. "Optimism has no place in this galaxy."

I shrug. "We'll have to see," I say. "That, we'll have to see."

He nods, and I launch myself from what I was leaning against. "But just know that I'm not all sunshine and flowers," I say. "I can think of at least twenty ways that I can brutally torture someone, the least of which includes cutting their fingers off with a butcher knife."

This gets Wrex's attention, and he actually emotes a lot more this time. He's silent for at least fifteen seconds before he chooses to reply.

"You're not as innocent as we think," he replies at length, giving me what I can only assume is a nervous glance.

"Yeah," I say. "The world's pretty fucked up, you can't deny that. I just choose not to ignore when something good is found."

He nods as I walk slowly away. "I'm gonna go around a bit," I say. "I'll catch you later, Wrex."

He gives a huff of breath. "I'll see you later, I guess," he says.

Eh, he'll learn to call me by name eventually. I think he's really interesting, honestly. He's all world-weary and all that. I'd really like to talk to him some more, if only to see what he thinks about all that is going on. I might be young and naive, but young and naive can be a good thing.

We'll have to see whether he survives Virmire or not. I really hope he does, 'cause he's too cool to die like that. And if Ash kills him anyway, I'll shoot her in the face.

I walk away, whistling a small Rodgers and Hammerstein tune as I walk away. Oddly enough, it's _16 Going On 17_...

* * *

I hung out with a few more people in the crew, and then I had dinner and went to bed. It was a long night, and I had trouble going to sleep as usual, but I felt great when I woke up. So I had breakfast in an especially perky mood, and then I went in for my eye surgery with Chakwas supervising it. That was quite an experience. Now I know how my sister must have felt during the laser surgery.

So now, I'm lying on a berth in the med bay, attempting to catch up on sleep as I have this cloth over my eyes meant to keep the light out. It's... quite meditative, actually. I just have to think of this like a facial, and it works beautifully. I think I even managed to get two hours of REM sleep, which is always nice given that I can never seem to get as much of it as I really need.

Chakwas is telling me to take it easy today as my eyes might still have a tough time adjusting to light. So she recommended taking today off from working out. Good thing, too, 'cause my legs are sore as hell right now. Phoo...

Yeah, this is gonna be fun when I wake up. Or, if someone decides to interrupt my beauty sleep again. Tali has already done so to make sure I'm all right, Kaidan, Ash, and Shepard did so out of business, and Wrex hasn't come. I wouldn't expect him to, given that I don't think he takes to optimism, but still. And Chakwas has been standing there making sure the cloth doesn't come off of my eyes before it's too early. So that leaves Garrus...

"Well, I see you are doing fine here, Art."

Speak of the devil.

"Why, hello there, Detective Vakarian," I say a little groggily. "What brings you here?"

"Well... mild curiosity mostly," replies Garrus sardonically. "Although, I will admit that you calling me 'Detective Vakarian' is beginning to get on my nerves."

I chuckle softly. "I dunno," I say. "You might have to get used to it, because I really like it, and when I really like something, you can't exactly convince me to drop it."

Things are silent between us for a few seconds as he looks down at me. Finally, a sigh... or as close as a turian can get to one, apparently. "I'll keep that in mind, then," he says. "If I ever find an exploitable trait, you better look out."

I chuckle, smiling softly. "I'm looking forward to see what you come up with," I say. And I mean that, too. People compared me to Harry Potter a little too much for my own safety back home, so here I wonder what they'll come up with. Especially Garrus, what with being a turian and all.

"In all seriousness, though, how do your eyes feel?" he asks, changing the subject.

I shrug. "I honestly don't know," I say. "Personally, I'm just taking this time to catch up on lost sleep, but it's usually not too long. My eyes were feeling pretty funny the first hour or so, but afterwards I've been feeling pretty good. I'm stuck with this bloody cloth for two more hours, though..."

"I see," he says. "I wonder what led to your sight problems in the first place... From what I hear this kind of problem is rare in humans these days."

I shrug. "I was one of those kids," I say, shrugging. "Looked at people wearing glasses on old Earth vids that belong to my family and thought it was the coolest fucking thing in the universe. So I refused to get surgery. Now, though, I don't exactly have a choice in the matter, so yeah... I'm a bit of a traditionalist, if you ask me. All the media I really care about is stranded in the 2000's..."

Garrus chuckles at this. "Interesting," he says. "I take it you really like older Earth vids?"

Given that I went through a one hundred year time skip and some of the vids I know back home probably don't exist here anymore... "Yeah," I say. "You've probably never heard of a few of them, though. You ever seen older human vids?"

"A couple," replies Garrus. "Mostly of the science fiction variety. I'd have to say that my favorite of those so far is called _District 9_..."

Wait, what? Are you serious? Sweet Jesus, yes! Niel Blomkamp existed in the_ Mass Effect _universe! Sweet! I'm so happy I almost get the cloth off, but I smile broadly instead. Now I need to find out what that one movie he was making that was supposed to be released in 2011 is and I'll be happy. Actually, I wonder what the rest of his filmography is like...

But that can wait, because one of my favorite movies is in the _Mass Effect_ universe! Yay!

"Hey, that's one of my favorites!" I exclaim.

"You too?" he asks, suddenly seeming quite happy.

"Hell yeah!" I say, raising a hand in a high five gesture. I hope Garrus gets the hint.

And he does, as I feel his talons slap against mine ever so softly. I assume he doesn't want to get the cloth off of my face.

"Turians tend not to like that film," he admitted. "What with those alien creatures being too close to home for us... Especially with an exoskeleton and all. But, they are fictional, so some are able to brush it off. I like it for the last half-hour or so, but also since it's dark."

Aw, the prawns don't exist in this universe. That makes me a sad panda, but at least I still have the movie!

"Oh, it becomes a lot better when you understand the historical context," I add. "That's a product of a really bad period of racism in one small country on the tip of Africa. And when you know some of the things they did in that time... Hoo boy."

"You seem to like talking about old Earth vids," he says.

You have no idea, Detective Vakarian. That copy of _Citizen Kane _that I rented from Netflix is probably still sitting in my apartment... God, I wished I had watched that the night before!

"Yeah," I say. "They're awesome. Actually, you know what would be really cool? If we had movie nights here on the Normandy where we all just exhibited various vids and stuff. Now that would be cool."

Garrus seems to like it as he pats my leg. "Actually, that doesn't sound like too bad an idea," he says. "We all get to hang out, get to know each other better... I like the idea."

I shrug. Well, I was wondering how we could get the whole crew to bond as one group other than having Shepard do all their favors for them. The solution has presented itself, and not on the battlefield either.

"Great!" I say. "I'll pitch the idea to Shepard when I get a chance."

Garrus regards me for a second, and... oh, god damn it, why does this cloth have to be on my face? Oh, wait, yeah, way to answer my own question. Even then, though, I have to wear sunglasses for the rest of the day, so I'm not totally off the hook yet. Watch; I'll find some way to violate this...

"I'm looking forward to what happens," he says finally. "I've got some calibrations to do. I'll see you around."

"See ya, Detective Vakarian," I intone playfully.

I can hear him growl, and I laugh softly. Ah, always fun to pull the Detective Vakarian card on him when he least expects it. Ah, I'm gonna have so much fun with that it's gonna be ridiculous.

* * *

Quite some time later, I'm walking around the Normandy wearing sunglasses. Wow, everything here seems pretty dark. But things don't look so blurry from a distance anymore. So, I guess it was successful. I just can't take these glasses off today, or else... But it seems I can see normally again without something resting on my nose.

My parents would be quite pleased that I got eye surgery. But... they're not here right now. So they'll never know. Unless I return to my own world. Speaking of which... since I played Vexations to get over here, maybe it would work the same way to go back? Maybe I don't have to do it right away: I'd only see the events of Mass Effect 2 to the end and return briefly, as I'm sure Mass Effect 3 will be out back in my universe by the time that happens. At least that way I can get the official version of how the Reapers were destroyed. Or...

Hm... You know what? I'm half wondering if there are going to be a few Big Lipped Alligator Moments while I'm here. It happened to John, I'm sure it could happen to me... We'll have to see. For now, I hope I don't get assaulted by any, because the last thing I need is for that to happen while I'm still recovering from eye surgery. But they do come right the fuck out of nowhere, so I can't be too hopeful.

Hm. Wearing sunglasses at night. I could get used to this. But then again, my eyes are adjusting to the light now, so yeah...

And this is still really surreal. I can't imagine how Sam Lowry would have taken this. If this had been his lobotomy fantasy instead of running off with Jill Layton, I wonder how he would have felt. Maybe that's all this is. I probably just hit myself on the head and am in an asylum now. Just like that one production of _Elektra_ Sturge was telling me about once. Who did that again? I don't know.

But it's still pretty wierd walking around on the SSV _Normandy_. That much is for sure. Soon enough, I'm pretty sure I'll stop thinking of Normandy as a landing site for DDay and I'll start thinking of it as a ship that Seth Green pilots. That will be a bit wierd once I finally get used to it. Knowing me, that might not be too far away...

Oh, there's Kaidan. I'd like to talk with him a little bit, as he says he really wants to ask me something.

I lean against the wall, adjusting my sunglasses slightly as I regard him, now in high definition. "Hey, Kaidan," I say.

He nods, pausing where he is. "Hello, Art," he says. "I hope you're all right with the eye surgery."

"I'll live," I say, shrugging. "I got used to parading around with glasses; this doesn't really feel all that different, except for the whole color scheme bit."

He smiles softly at this. "Of course," he says.

I nod and push off the walls. "So, you wanted to ask me something?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says, and I nod. "I wanted to ask about Earth."

Oh, dear. That is not gonna go well. Whatever he does, I hope he doesn't ask about the politics. I'm still stuck with Barack Obama's presidency, and I have no way of knowing how that turned out so far. Furthermore, I haven't had any time to go to the extranet (and I won't be able to with this eye surgery at least for today), and so I don't know. I hope he's been keeping track of their politics himself, because I absolutely cannot help him there...

But I can't just say no...

"Sure," I say. "I just hope it's not politics, because I like to ignore that." It's not true at all, but it'll have to do.

"Actually, I'm quite up to date on that," he replies. Oh, thank God. That was close. "Just, wanted to get to know a little more about where you are from on Earth."

That shouldn't be too much to ask, although I'm not sure if the U.S. has undergone any kind of problems with that. "Of course," I say. "Well, I was actually born and raised in the Western Hemisphere. They nickname it America."

"Ah, the U.S., I see," he replies. Okay, good, so the US hasn't changed names in that time. Which is odd... "I hear things are relatively stable down there."

I raise my eyebrows. "If it's how I think it is right now, trust me, it's _never_ stable," I reply, chuckling. "There's always some nutjobs trying to get around the place." Don't bring up issues.

"And whereabouts in the US are you from?" he asks.

"Florida," I reply. All right, another half-truth is ready to launch. "The tip of it. I'm descended from a lineage of purely Cuban people that resided there."

He rose an eyebrow. "Cuba?" he asks. "You mean Nueva Havana?"

Okay, so Cuba went through a name change? Okay. I knew the Castro brothers had messed it up, but still... "Yeah, that's what I mean," I say. "But my... my ancestors came over from when the Castro brothers took over. It was still called Cuba back then, if memory serves me correctly." Which I'm really hoping it does.

He frowns slightly. Oh dear. I don't like where this conversation is heading. But still, play along, Art. Play along, and it'll be all right... I hope...

"I see..." he says, looking at me inquisitively. "I guess I never knew my Earth history that well."

Oh, okay. But still, I don't think I trust that all too much. I'm keeping my eye on you, Lieutenant. "I know a lot of it," I say. "Mostly older developments, but you know what I mean. I always have trouble remembering the past hundred years or so..."

He nods, and if he's suspicious I don't see any indications of it being so. I just hope things are all right... "And how are things going there with music? I hear it's really, really hard to make a living as a composer these days."

Oh, dear. "When hasn't it been difficult?" I ask, shrugging. "It's always been a hard profession."

Kaidan gives me a raised eyebrow. "Really?" he asks. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, think about it," I say. "Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are really the only guys from the classical era you hear about all that much. And yet there were tons of other composers in that era that not too many people know about these days. It's a tough profession, but it's always been like that. You get famous in life, and then fall by the wayside once you die. That, or they hated you in life and they love you all of a sudden when you die. You have to be dead to know if you were any good."

The Lieutenant chuckles at this. "That's true," he says. "But hopefully, we can make sure you are successful on the Citadel..."

"I hope," I say, shrugging. "We'll have to see what happens. I was only a student when I got there, but we'll see." Especially so since I won't be able to continue my schooling like this.

He shrugs. "You know, I knew your name had some kind of Spanish tinge to it," he says. "I actually almost expected that you would be from Spain!"

Raising my eyebrows, I crossed my arms. "Really?" I ask. "You do realize that hispanic cultures all differ from each other, right?"

"Of course," he says. "But that doesn't stop speculation."

I nod, seeing his point. "That, and it's impossible to tell what version of hispanic a person is just by hearing a name," I say. "So that's kind of justified."

"I see," he says. "Art, the Hispanic soldier. I don't think you can actually speak any Spanish..."

I give him a glare. Just because I was born in an English-speaking country doesn't mean I can't speak Spanish! "_Bueno,_" I reply, crossing my arms. "_Hay que..._" Hay que... damn it, what was the word for 'to prove'? Shit, I can't remember...

"Seems like it's a bit rusty to me," he says.

Son of a bitch!

I shake my head. "Yeah, you got me," I say. "I don't really know Spanish all that well. But I can still conjugate. _Porque ustéd necesita que comprender que es solo el vocabulário con que tengo problemas._ And possibly word order. But you know what I mean."

"I see," he says, rubbing his chin. "I'll keep it in mind. Nice talking to you, and take care of your eyes."

"I will, Lieutenant," I say.

And with this, we go our own separate ways. Fun times occur indeed.

* * *

Well, it's been a pretty hectic two days. I've gotten settled into the Normandy, gotten eye surgery performed, talked about vids with Garrus, talked to Tali some more, talked to Wrex, talked to Kaidan, talked to Ashley, talked to Shepard...

I'm beginning to feel at home here. As well, my eyesight's returned to what it was before I was even aware of anything wrong with my sight. As I lay here in my bed in the crew quarters, I'm left thinking about everything.

She gave us a speech. But I don't exactly remember what it was about. She told me and a few others that she would go after Liara T'Soni first, and I remember thinking to myself that it would be quite incredible to meet an asari. So I'm quite looking forward to it.

What I am less looking forward to is sitting out of the next mission with Ash staying behind to train me in firearms. But we'll have to see how that goes.

For now, I think I could get used to this. Mostly. I just wish I had an application that allowed me to compose and stuff. And also, my viola. I wish I still had that. Hell, I wish I still had my manuscript paper with me! I'd get a lot of composing done that way.

Oh well. Not much I can do about that.

For now, I'm Art, I'm an Earthborn, I never came from another dimension, I was on a stimulant trip, and I was never seen playing with my toys. And I'm still looking for an instrument.

So yeah. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and I'm feelin' good.


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: All right, and we're back._

_So last chapter was me getting to know the crew. It lays down most of the basic relationships I have with the rest of the crew. So to run down them really fast, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus become really good friends of mine, I become suspicious of Kaidan, and Ashley doesn't like me all that much. And Shepard... we'll have to see about both her and Liara when we finally get her into the motley crew._

_Oh, and I should probably translate the Spanish from last chapter. So I tell Kaidan: "Because you need to understand that it's only with vocabulary that I have problems." Trust me, I forget Spanish words all the time. And also certain German grammatical rules, but I'll get to that when the situation calls for it._

_So with that, I guess I'll turn it over to other, more qualified people. Away chapter!_

* * *

"_Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential."_

_-Liane Cardes_

* * *

Chapter 3: Rocky

Okay, I haven't gotten my terminal to work yet, so I haven't been able to do any extranet searches. But we've got a tech team working on it right now. So I think I'll be in good hands right now. But still, it's good for me so I can get used to my omni tool.

Yeah, Ash gave me this omni tool just a short while ago. She told me to fiddle around with it for two hours and get used to it before meeting her in the cargo hold. I think she just wants to see what weapons I would be good at. I have a horrible feeling I'll fail horribly with the shotgun. It would make for a hilarious Resident Evil reference if I ever got one, but otherwise I think she'll have the right idea if I suck with the shotgun. I'll also have horrible luck with the sniper rifle, as I'm fucking terrible with smaller actions. My arms are so used to larger gestures... My meaning is clear.

But right now, I'm fiddling with the omni-tool. And... hey, you can access the extranet on this thing? Hm, doesn't seem to be picking up a strong signal. Eh, I'll wait until the terminal gets back online.

Shepard's still tracking down Dr. T'Soni, although we've only been drifting around for a day or so. The sunglasses went off a long time ago, and... well, I can see clearly now! The rain is gone, and that's always a great thing!

Rain... Speaking of which, I wonder how bad it's raining down in Miami right now. I'm pretty sure it's bad. I just hope... No, I know my parents are freaking out right now. I wonder. Has anybody found me back home? Have I just vanished? Did I hit my head against something and die? Did I go into a coma?

I'm not sure. And a part of me is saying that I honestly don't want to find out the answer to that.

Oh, well, get used to these menus, Art.

All right. So this is the one that gets stuff done. It's just like pressing the L2 trigger for my copy of _Dragon Age_. Man, it would be super surreal if people from that game started showing up in space opera. But then again, you never know... It happened in other media, and it could happen here. So we'll just have to see about that...

Hm, the time's getting close to when I have to meet up with Ash.

All right, here goes nothing.

I head down to the cargo bay, a spring in my step as I head to the elevators, nodding in time to an imaginary beat. Ah, Varèse, where would I be without _Ameríques_? Nowhere, I guess. I just hope you exist here, because I will blow a fuse if you aren't.

* * *

So I walk into the cargo bay, and instantly I sense something is wrong when I don't see Ashley in the immediate vicinity. I turn around, not seeing her anywhere in crates on my line of sight. I see a pistol in the center of the room, a heavenly light shining on it like the false grail from _The Last Crusade. _This is a little odd. Okay, time to play the waiting game for ten minutes...

...Ten minutes later and she's still not there.

Hm. Something doesn't seem totally right about this. I don't know what it is, but I don't like this one bit.

Slowly, I slinked into the cover provided by the crates that lined the cargo bay, looking around the place with my eyes just below my cover. I slink along the cover, keeping an eye out for Ash. She wants to play games with me? Okay. I'll go with that for now. Just stay behind cover at all times, and seek her out. That way, you should live longer. Wait, what am I saying? She won't be stupid enough to kill me. If anything, she'll just fire at the ground and reprimand me for not staying behind cover.

Okay, there's a break in the cover. Oh, dear, I've never done rolls on hard ground. I'll just have to play along. One, two, three.

My body rolls across the ground, and I'm behind cover again. The world tumbles a little, and I'm left to catch my breath, but I feel pretty good about myself. Sweetness!

And, I see the targeting laser set on the wall behind me. Okay, she's using a sniper rifle right now. And judging from where the dot is...

I turn around and look behind my cover. Sure enough, I see Ash kneeling against a crate, a sniper rifle in her hands. The dot dances on the wall behind me, and I can sense that she's concentrating. She shifts slightly, and I give her a glance.

Well, you're gonna have to try harder than that to catch me, Ash! All right, Art. Remember the treehouse after your Confirmation. Stay out of sight. Make it seem like the wind. Play it safe. And don't let yourself be seen.

All right, here we go. I slowly get on my hands and knees and crawl away past cover. I traverse any openings I can catch, and then I slowly get around there. And I see the target laser dance over me. Wait...

I tap my shoe once, and I suddenly notice that my shoes are actually pretty noisy on this floor. Uh huh... Might be a good idea to take them off. And I do just that, taking my socks off as well. If I'm gonna do this, I might as well do it barefoot. She'll barely even know I'm coming. I hope.

So I ditch the shoes and I sneak across cover some more. Her targeting laser goes along the opposite wall by the time I can see that bun in her hair, and I'm slowly sneaking up to her. Okay, now I pause. Once I do this, I have to be careful. I have to have extremely careful hands when I lunge for her weapon. I don't think I'll succeed, and I'm pretty sure I won't. But we'll see what she says of that later.

For now, I see her. She's barely a few feet in front of me. Her sight is still trained on where I dumped my shoes. Don't look at her for too long, or else she'll get the feeling I'm staring at her.

Okay. Here goes... whatever the hell I'm doing.

Gripping the edge of the crate, I launch myself forward silently. My feet hammer, and then Ash turns around, surprised at this. She turns her sniper rifle around as if to hit me.

Oh shit! Oh shit! What do I--?

I collide with her before I can finish my though, and then we're both sent tumbling away. Her sniper rifle flies away from her grasp. Huh, I'd expect her to keep a stronger grip on her weapon. Oh, well. I'm sent flying away, skidding just a few feet away. I groan slightly, and then I get up on my hands and knees.

And as soon as I look up, I see Ashley with a deeply mischievous grin on her face. Confused, I raise an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"There was a sniper rifle across the room, you know," she says. "It's probably where you left your shoes. Or I'm guessing you didn't see it?"

Wait, you mean there was a sniper rifle all the way over there? Shitfucker! I can't believe I just did that!

"Fuck!" I say, shaking my head and getting up. "You're crafty as fuck, girl."

She glares at me. "I'd like it if you'd refer to me as 'Ash', not girl," she replies.

"Still, the point has been made," I say, crossing my arms. "You done playing with my mind here?"

"Yes," she says. "I half expected you to walk into the center of the room when you noticed I was missing. I'll admit I was definitely not expecting what you actually did. Especially when you vanished without a trace breifly."

I rose an eyebrow. "Really?" I ask. "Even with my shoes off you could probably still hear me."

She shrugs. "Not over the constant sound of gunfire," she says. "That's what would probably happen in a combat situation. Except that in a combat situation, there would likely be less cover for you to work with. But since you ran faster than I expected you to, then that takes care of itself..."

I rose my eyebrow at this. "So... you're not mad about the sniper rifle," I say.

She shakes her head. "No," she replies. "You have the right idea about never leaving from cover. Also, you have the good sense not to walk into the open space, even with the promise of another weapon. And you have good sense to tell when a trap is being set up. So for that, we're already doing well."

I nod, suddenly feeling pretty good about myself. If I was able to make her happy about that, I'm on a roll! I just hope I never have to crawl like that over a field of broken glass...

"Thanks," I say. "So, what happens now?"

She pulls out a pistol and hands it to me. I take it gingerly, the weapon feeling a little... lighter than I expected? Lighter? Huh...

"We get started," she says. "Recoil training. Tali tells me your arm almost got greatly messed up because you weren't used to the recoil."

I nod, looking at the gun and then at a crate. I assume she wants me to attack a crate? But where the hell are we going to find an empty crate... Hm...

"Yeah, it was," I say, deciding to just continue the conversation as it was.

"Then let's get started," she says. "Point at the crate over there, and I'll see how badly the recoil affects you."

I raise my eyebrow at this. I... don't think this is a particularly good idea. I mean, what if I can't move around the battlefield all that well because I never learned how to roll with a gun in my hand? What if I'm a little too slow with that? Why am I trying to get the recoil done now? Shouldn't I know how to handle the damn thing before I try to fire it? I know that when I took fencing in junior year my entire class was forbidden from touching a foil for two weeks while we were learning form. And sure enough, I became one of the better foil fighters in the class because of it. So shouldn't we be doing the same here?

Ah, you know what? Nah. I should trust Ash a little more here. She's obviously more knowledgeable on firearms than I am... but if I shoot myself by accident, I'm telling Shepard that I never learned how to roll with a gun.

So I point at the crate, bracing myself with a foot behind me as I aim. I shake a little bit, and then I pull the trigger.

Oh, dear, the recoil. At least this time, I think I got myself in good hands right now, as I don't think I injured anything and I didn't fall over. A hole goes into the crate, and Ash nods.

"Not too bad," she says. "But do you have to splay your foot out so far?"

I look behind me to see that indeed, I do have a lot of distance between my waist and my foot. Huh. All right, shuffle that foot forward. And try again.

Bang.

And, I think I'm getting the hang of the recoil. Ash nods, and she gestures to me.

"Right," she says. "Now, keep firing. And before you fire, feel the weight of your arms. Feel it press against the gun as it fires. Feel yourself launch forward ever so slightly, and then let it go."

Okay, that's a lot like my viola lessons. Oh, dear... Stop reminding me of home!

Anyways... Okay, so, stand there. Feel the arms. Okay, I feel the muscles on them as they twitch around the bone. I think I'm on the right track. Right. Now, in a split second, you'll lean forward. And only for a split second! And, pull the trigger.

I barely feel the recoil. This will take a bit of getting used to, but I know how important it is that I stay in shape. This will only get better when I continue to work out. But for now, I see her nod, a pleased look on her face.

"Good," she says. "A few more times so you can get used to the feeling, now."

Well, she may not like me all that much, but she's a good teacher. So I'll take her on what she says. Okay, focus. Fire a few more times.

I do just that, waiting a little bit between rounds fired and making sure I have it right. Just think of it like viola lessons. Feel the deltoid muscle, Art! Feel it! Feel also the placement of your feet on the ground. Your shoulder muscles. The direction your eyes are taking. Now, focus, and time it just right.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

And another one bites the dust.

I turn to her, looking at the smoldering hole that the bullets left before nodding. "All right," I say. "You know, that wasn't too far away from my viola lessons. I'd get reminded about having to use certain muscle groups again and again." Shit, bite down the yoga comment. Bite it down... Don't let the office see your hand shake...

"Huh," she says, sparing me those thoughts. "It would explain why you got used to it so fast. Usually, it takes three, maybe four shots for a recruit to figure out just how the recoil works."

I wink at her. "See?" I say. "Music _is_ good for the military!"

She raises an eyebrow at this, crossing her arms in mild surprise. "It does provide distractions," she replies.

"Distractions are good," I reply, shrugging. "We'd all go insane if there were no distractions in life. I mean, if we were all about work, then there'd be no time to appreciate life. We have to take time to think about things, allow ourselves distractions. Like what I'm doing with this overly long monologue that I take is annoying you once again."

At this, I found her fighting to keep down a chuckle. "Well, you certainly hit the nail on the head there," she says. "But anyway, we have to move on. We don't exactly have all day, you know."

I nod. "Of course," I say. "Now, what's next?"

And then she plops an assault rifle into my arms. It's a little heavier than I expected, and I give it an odd look as I hold the weapon in my hands.

"Recoil training," she says. "Again. You know the drill."

Huh. Way to be a strict bitch again. We'll have to see how well this gels, A.K.A., not at all. I guess I won't bore myself with details.

I stand at attention, holding the object as I stare the crates down. I pick up my rifle... I aim... I think of my upper body...

And I cue the _Rocky_-style montage!

* * *

The next two days were full of getting myself in shape and getting gun training with Ashley. She brought me up to speed on many things with handling guns, including how to roll with them, getting used to recoil behind cover, basic tips on how to reload quickly, and that whole shebang. She was very helpful, but she'd go into her strict bitch mode whenever I would go off on a tangent. I was started on pistols and assault rifles for now; we had both learned that I was a _terrible_ sniper, and that for now the shotgun recoil was far too much and would send me flying unless I gained more expertise.

Target practice was a bit wierd, as she used very specific colorations on the crates for that. I was pretty good at aiming with a pistol by the time I had gone through it enough times, my automatic rifle work could have used some help, and, well that was essentially all we covered. I imagine my shotgun aim could be pretty good in the future. As well, I also had to learn some weapon swap and some reloading. Reloading I got the gist of doing very quickly, but switching was a much more laborious process. And I was not good at it, so we spent the majority of our time on that until I had gotten the gist of how to switch quickly. And even then, I still got it wrong. And then there was rolling practice, which she did without the aid of mats. I would have complained, but I saw her logic behind it. After all, the battlefield isn't going to have anything to soften the ground, so I can't get too used to that. This I seemed to get the hang of, although I did nearly break my arm a few times. But hey, what can a guy do, you know?

I also spent those days taking on a strict one hour of cardio and one hour of yoga when I wasn't training with Ash for six hours. The exercise regimen recommended by Chakwas took a bit of getting used to, but I was usually the only one in the gym (Shepard would stop by and talk to me sometimes, but that's besides the point), so I worked at it. Core muscles got stronger. I was able to run on the treadmil for progressively longer distances. It was intense, and at the end of both days I felt absolutely exhausted.

But I felt I was learning something. Ash was an incredibly tough instructor, but I put up with that. Sometimes I wanted to scream at her in frustration, but she had power over me so I did as I was told. And at the end of the day, it all started to pay off as I... well, failed and succeeded, failed and succeeded, and then began to succeed on a more regular basis.

It was such that on the second day Ash had given me something of a breather after all the target, rolling, cover, and reloading practice that she and I both sat there.

* * *

It was the day that Shepard and the crew had touched down on Therum looking for Liara T'Soni. She had taken pretty much the entire team except for Ash and myself. We were wearing standard issue armor, myself wearing armor that was handed down from Alenko. Some of it had to be trimmed down to fit my size, but otherwise it fit me fairly well. I do have to say, though, this armor is heavy as hell! It's like wearing one of those lead things at the doctor's office; heavy and mildly ungainly. My rolling somehow impoved while wearing this, though. I honestly don't know why.

But anyway, enough about the armor.

I am sitting against a crate and Ash turned to me.

"How are you feeling?" she asks.

"Tired," I say, wiping some sweat off of my brow. "I've had sixteen hours of doing nothing but nonstop training to be a soldier. I'm pretty sure your troops in the Alliance get it better than this..."

"Partly," she says. "But then again, they're not being forced to be prepared for a dangerous mission in such a short amount of time, so..."

I shrug at this. "I wasn't exactly complaining," I reply defensively. "I'm just sayin', it was more hard work than I expected it to be. And at the end of the day... I think I'm gonna sleep past breakfast tomorrow..."

She chuckled good-naturedly. "That's the idea," she says. "Especially so as we take on this final training challenge."

I raise my eyebrows. "Challenge?" I ask. "Am I going to be engaging in a mock firefight?"

Her reply comes in the form of a few heat sinks being dropped at my feet. "Blanks," she says. "They'll fire charges, but not enough to seriously injure someone."

I look down at the heat sinks, picking one up and inspecting it. I look up at her, uncertainty on my face. "You mean, I'm gonna have to..."

"Yep," she says. "You're taking on me in a one on one firefight in the cargo bay, as soon as this break is over."

"Oh dear..." I say, looking at the heat sink as I pull out my pistol and begin to switch ammunition. "I don't feel entirely confident about that..."

As I collect the blank heat sinks, she nods. "Don't worry, they won't injure me," she says. "If anything, it'll be just a small zap that I feel. Nothing more."

"Not about that," I say. "But about how long I'll stand out against you. I'm sure it won't be too long."

"You never know," she replies. "Have more faith in yourself. And you can do it. Even if your monologuing gets the better of you."

Ooh. Burn. You got me good there, _Williams_. "Right," I say, shaking my head as I put my pistol away on the magnetic charge on my back and pull the assault rifle away. "So, what are the stipulations?"

"Either shoot me once successfully, or survive for five minutes," she says. "Either condition will mean that I can deem you worthy to join the crew on the next mission. Which, by the way, I'm still not forgiving you for keeping me out of today's mission."

"Whatever," I say, shaking my head as I stand up. "I'm not particularly happy about not meeting Dr. T'Soni until she gets here either."

"Not what I meant," replies the gunnery chief. "Now, I hope you're ready, because it'll begin once I radio you to put your shields up."

I stand at attention as she looks at me. "Yes, ma'am!" I say, looking at her determinedly.

"All right," she says. "I'll go to the other side of the cargo hold, and you stay here."

"Of course," I reply, slowly moving to cover. "Whenever you're ready."

And then she walks to the other side of the cargo hold. I slowly get behind the cover, losing my composure as I did. I'm facing off against Ash! Ash, of all people! Shit! I'm not gonna survive for five minutes. I'm not gonna be able to shoot her. I'm gonna fail miserably. And...

Okay, relax Art. You'll do fine. You can survive for five minutes. Just be careful, don't show your face when your shields go down, move through cover quickly, and make sure that there is at least one row of crates between the two of you. And remember your training and put it to good use.

And remember, it's a large space... Oh, god damn it, why can't I come up with a good music analogy?

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm gonna fail...

No, I'll do fine.

"Activate shields on three... two... one..."

Too late to turn back now.

I activate my shields, and I nod.

"Shields activated," I say.

"Good," she says. "Firefight starts now!"

And she's the first one to shoot at me as I hear some assault rifle rounds zing past the crates I was using as cover. I wait for her to stop firing, drawing my pistol before turning around to gaze there. If I can keep her behind the cover...

She comes up at me again and I duck behind my cover. Okay, wait for the rounds to come by...

Now!

I come out of my hiding place and manage to fire my gun. She hides behind her cover, however, and I silently curse to myself as I linger there. As soon as I see her, I duck back behind my cover.

This isn't working. I need to use faster fire.

That said, I switch to the assault rifle. All is silent for a few seconds, and I imagine that Ashley is waiting for me to surface. So slowly, I peer out from behind my cover to find Ash doing the same. I'm quick to duck behind as suddenly a rush of blanks fly past my cover. All right, I think I'm doing good so far on the reflexes department. I just wish my arms weren't shaking so much...

Don't worry, Art. You can do this.

As soon as I hear the fire stop, I extend my arm out past the cover, keeping an eye on Ash. And miraculously enough, I managed to get the first few bullets that actually hit something as I see her shields glow blue for a brief second as they deflect the bullets. All right! I can do this!

Or, could, if she didn't come out right afterwards and then attempt to take out my own shields. She did manage to lower them some, as the display on my armor so religiously showed, but I was fast enough to retrieve into cover before it could be a problem.

Well, Art, that's what you get for being cocky. You got a hit on Ash, but that doesn't mean you can stay out for long.

Speaking of which... are those footsteps?

Oh dear. Time to head to different cover. I listen carefully to where the footsteps are coming from. And they're coming from my right side.

Okay. To the left then.

Quickly, I move along, checking my cover as I move to keep an eye on Ash's position. And I see the top of her head stop somewhere. She rises over her cover and fires.

I barely manage to duck in time, and even then she manages to take some of my shields, which had regenerated by then. I was not doing as well as I thought I would, but at least my shields had still managed to hold. I hear the rounds go off above me before rising and taking fire. I duck back down as we exchange fire like this for a bit.

Okay, this isn't working. I need to think of something else. Rush her? Nah, that would be reckless, and even more so in the kinds of situations found in the game. Stay out of cover and just zigzag? Possibly, but that wouldn't work when fighting a bunch of mooks that can fire at you from so many different directions. Pull a Thane? ... Okay, why did I just think that? I'm not that awesome. Pull a Rambo and use both of my guns?

... Actually, that doesn't sound like too bad an idea. I might not be used to the recoil of an assault rifle in one hand, but hey, it might throw her off.

Before I can act on it, though, I hear footsteps. From the right again, and she's close enough where she could fire down.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

I get up and dash away just as Ash appears around the corner. Her assault rifle fire follows me as I make a mad dash for the opposite end of the room. My shields barely held together after that, and I only managed to fire a few blanks before finally I was nestled back in the center of the room.

Okay, the Rambo approach will have to wait for my shields to regenerate. While I do that, though, I get out my pistol, nodding at it. I very quietly place my assault rifle on the ground right next to me, and as my head appears I hear a rattle of gunfire.

Not yet. My shields haven't regenerated fully. I'll need them at full capacity for this to work. Because, after all, I'm not exactly Sylvester Stallone.

Okay, I wait for a few minutes, peering my head out again. Ash is moving very slowly, and I sense that she may be trying to throw me off. Not so fast there, Williams!

I fire a warning shot just above her head to show her that I know what she's up to. She recoils slightly, and then peers up.

Duck back, and wait for her to stop firing. Okay, my shields have regenerated. Now, to exchange the fire.

With one hand, I come out of my cover and fire my pistol several times. It's enough to cause me to run out of ammo, but this is part of the plan. I retreat into my cover almost immediately, and I quickly reach for the assault rifle. I carelessly toss my pistol to the side, and I grab it as quickly as I can. I grab it so quickly I actually overestimate how I'll fall. I come out of cover again just as Ash has her gun ready, and after very quickly (but flimsily) steadying myself, I let out a yell and let loose.

And, results! We both fired at each other, shields going out. But my yell startled her briefly, and so I was able to get in a few shots first. And sure enough, as soon as my shields fell, I heard a ping right before I felt a blank hit me on my arm.

Ow! Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow!!!! I hope I landed a hit. Let's see what Ash says about that.

It's quiet for a bit, and then I hear my comm unit buzz to life.

"That was a really ballsy move," she says. "Whatever happens in the field of battle, don't do that again."

I nod. "It'll depend on the situation, but I'll try not to," I say. "Badassery comes like that, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does," she says. "Besides, you got a hit on me first, so that has to mean something. Especially since I felt myself get hit by two blanks before I could get one on you."

All right, the Rambo Gambit paid off! "And where'd they hit?" I ask, standing up from cover and not using the comm unit anymore.

"Stomach and shoulder," she replies. "Two pretty good places to hit if you want to disable your enemy. And it makes it tough for the medics to heal unless they have medigel on hand. And you?"

"Arm," I say, shrugging. "I might not be able to do spiccato strokes for the rest of my life, but I'll live. So that means..."

"It's a draw," she says. "But you seem to show quite a bit of craftiness and observance on the battlefield."

Hm... "Observance?" I ask. Really, Ash? "I wouldn't have noticed you trying to sneak up on me if not for the fact that I just had to check. I guess I owe that to paranoia, maybe?"

"But it still makes you look every so often," she says. "And that's a vital skill to have in battle. As well, you'll have the help of squad mates to take down mooks. As such, I think you'll be ready to join the Normandy's crew on their next mission. And we can get you started on the battle sims before we head to Noveria, which can only help you more."

And cue the _Final Fantasy_ victory music. I managed to beat Ash at a firefight after sixteen hours of vigorous work. Shit, this... this feels really wierd. Like I'm on top of the world right now! I feel awesome! Maybe not as awesome since my victory came with a very brash maneuver, but still. I can't wait to call potshots on Matriarch Benezia!

"Speaking of mission..." I then say, realizing something. "What's Shepard's status on finding Dr. T'Soni?"

Ash shruggs as I collect my items and attach them to my armor. "Well, let's find out, shall we?"

And with this, we both leave the cargo bay. I'm probably gonna get some nice, good sleep aftewards.

"And by the way, I'm still going to be looking after you from here on out."

Well, fuck. Ah, well, I should've seen that coming. After all, I still haven't gotten shotgun quite right, so I'll have to do something about that. We'll have to see what. But still, I was looking forward to my free time! Ah, well...

"But it won't be as vigorous as it was for the past few days."

Oh, okay. That, I can live with. That way I have time to myself. And time to look up whether Vexations exists in this universe or not. I'm sure it does, though. I mean, some of the composers are the same, so I'm assuming the history of western music followed a similar plan...

"Okay," I say, shrugging. "That'll be interesting to watch. Especially when I get to use a shotgun. That'll be pretty crazy. Just, don't force me to use the sniper rifle, as I don't think I'll ever get used to it. At all."

She glances down at me before shrugging. "Anything that'll keep your internal monologuing to a minimum."

Oh. Okay. I'll take that as a cue to shut up. Besides, we do have to see if Shepard's got Liara yet...

* * *

And... she has! We're sitting around in a circle, getting debriefed. I'm sitting by Ash for some reason, with a chair freed up there as Shepard stands in front of the com link that can get her to contact the Citadel should the need arise. I would have liked to sit with our non-human friends on the other side, but... well, there weren't enough seats on the other side.

Oh, boy, Liara. This is going to be quite fun when I see you here. And indeed, you look far too attractive to be a doctor. But hey, there's the entire asari race for you. It's too bad you're a pureblood, though, because we all know how that works out for you... Yeah, I'm thinking too much about it.

And we just left Therum, too. And Joker's not too happy about that.

"Too close, commander," he says over the intercom. "Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."

Liara is the first to say something after this. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" she asks.

Well, at least it's not an internal monologue, Dr. T'Soni. In fact--

"It eases the tension," she says. "Bad jokes tend to do that around here."

Oh, I hope I didn't actually say any of what I thought aloud.

"I see," she says. "It must be a human thing. You must forgive me for not having much experience with your species. But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. The geth would have killed me."

Kaidan is the next person to speak. "What did Saren want with you?" he asks. "Do you know something about the Conduit?"

Yeah, Ash filled me in on what was happening on the first day of shooting lessons. So I'm as up to date on the mission as everybody else. Not like I needed it, since I already know where the Conduit is, but hey, I've gotta humor them to avoid suspicion, right? Hopefully biotics can't read minds... If they can, I'm fucked.

Liara replies, leaning back against the chair. "Only that it was connected to the Prothean extinction," she says. "That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

I raise my eyebrows. Good for a refresher, I guess.

"I'm sorry, but how old are you?" I ask. "You'll have to forgive me on this one, as I've never really encountered an asari before. So, no offense..."

"None taken," replies Liara, her hands settled in her lap. "And I am only a hundred and six."

Ah, okay. To play along, I rear my head back, raising my eyebrow at this. "_Only_ a hundred and six?" I ask, keeping in character.

"Asari can live for a thousand years, Mr. *********," replies Liara, looking at me. "It may be old for a short-lived species like yourself, but for my species I am only a child."

I shrug at this. "Well, I mean, since you're only a child in them, doesn't that mean that you can come to conclusions that those older than you wouldn't otherwise be able to come to?" I ask.

"That is exactly the problem," she replies. "My research does not get the attention it deserves. Based on my youth, they tend to discard what theories I have about the Prothean extinction."

Shepard gives her a glance. "I've got my own theory on why the Protheans disappeared," she says. And so do I, but I'm not telling you guys that.

"With all due respect, Commander," says Liara, her voice seeming a little too scientific, "I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues."

Oh, the irony. Maybe it was towards the end, not after, Liara.

"But here is the incredible part," she says without waiting for my train of thought to finish. "According to my findings, the Protheans are not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them."

Yep, I've heard that too, Dr. T'Soni. I'll let the other crew ask questions for this.

"What makes you think that?" asks Shepard. "There was no evidence left behind..."

"I have been working at this for fifty years," replies Liara. "I have scanned all of the evidence I could find. Eventually, a pattern emerged. A pattern that hinted at the truth. It is difficult to explain." Not to the guy who listens to Varèse on his spare time, dear. It helps that I've got the pattern figured out, but still, even if I didn't... "I cannot point to one specific piece of evidence. It is more derived from a half century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove that there were other civilizations that were wiped out before the Protheans. The cycle has repeated itself many times over."

_For several billions of years_, I bite back the urge to mutter. I think I do mouth it though. Shit, I hope nobody was looking at me... Fuck fuck fuck... Well, everyone's eyes are directed at Dr. T'Soni, hers are directed at Shepard, so... Fuck...

"So, let me get this straight," I say, all attention diverting to me. "You're saying that there's a cycle of extinction going on here? That we're gonna meet the same fate the Protheans met somehow?"

"That seems to be what my research indicates," she says. "Each time a great civilization rises up, it is violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans expanded across the galaxy, yet they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements-- the mass relays and the Citadel-- are based on the technology of those who came before them."

Oh, dear. If only you knew. It's not the Protheans at all. The Citadel is a trap. The Protheans made nothing. The cake is a lie. You get the idea.

She continues on, and I discard this thought pretty quickly. "And then, like all the other civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

Okay, Shepard. Since you saw the beacon on Eden Prime, let's hear you.

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines," she says. "The Reapers."

She seems a little confused by this. "Th... the Reapers?" she asks. "But I have never heard of--. How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

Shepard continues. "There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime," she replies. "It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"A vision..." she says, thinking. "Yes, that makes sense. The beacons were programmed to send information directly into the users' brain. Finding a beacon in working condition is extremely rare."

"So that would explain why they attacked Eden Prime," says Ash, crossing her arms.

"Finding a working beacon is worth any risk," says Liara. "But... the information is likely confusing. The beacons were programmed only to work with Prothean physiology. Someone would have to unscramble the vision for it to make any sense."

"All we know so far is that Saren is after some 'Conduit'," says Shepard. "Maybe these visions can provide a clue for that?"

"Possibly," says Liara. "I could unscramble the vision for you if we can find another working beacon."

"Of course," she says. "That sounds as good an idea as any. For now, we will be chasing after Benezia on Noveria."

And then, she turns to Ash and me. "Chief Williams, how has Serviceman *********'s firearm training gone?"

Fuck, I'm only ranked a Serviceman? Well... actually, come to think of it, that does make a little more sense than just referring to me as 'Art'. I'm technically not a part of the Alliance military, but it's better than nothing I suppose.

Ash nods, smiling softly. "He's a fast learner, I'll give him that," she says. "He'll be ready in time for Noveria."

Shepard nods at this. "Excellent," she says. "I'll contact the Council and let them know that we have Liara on our crew. Serviceman, I expect you to be ready when we touch down on Noveria."

"Yes, Commander," I say, nodding my head and smiling. All right, so I'll get to fire at Benezia! Provided things don't go too badly...

"This debriefing is dismissed," says Shepard. "Prepare for Noveria, as we'll be heading to there as soon as I bring the Council up to speed.."

And so the debriefing ends. All right, Liara T'Soni has joined the party! I know she won't betray us despite the council's fears, so this should go rather smoothly. Now all that's left is to talk with her a little bit, get to know her a little more. And that shouldn't be so hard.

The hard part will come concerning talking about the Reapers to her. Now that will be hard to not let my mouth run off in a thousand different directions...

* * *

And... it wasn't too hard. We'll have to see what goes down with that later. We just introduced each other and our professions. Nothing big, really. But she did say that she did have something of a soft spot for human music, and she especially liked new composers. I told her I would see what I could do once I had gotten a hold of a way to write some music.

For now, though, I'm back in my room. Before I showed up, some of the tech guys on the Normandy told me that my terminal is up and running now, complete with extranet link.

Sweet! Maybe I can find out where I can get a hold of _Vexations_ again. And then, I just have to find somewhere to hide, and then to play it. And then hopefully I can be back home.

So I sit at my desk and turn my terminal on. This is going to take a bit of getting used to the holographic nature of it, but still, I think I understand what's going on. Actually, it's surprising how similar this interface is back home. I wonder... how often do these terminals suffer from the infamous Blue Screen of Death? I hope it's not as often as my Dell XPS laptop. Because that would be fucking annoying. It's annoying when it happens in my universe, and it's annoying when it happens anywhere else.

Although, if I do get the BSOD, it might give me an excuse to loudly scream a quote from _Spaceballs_. That would be quite funny.

Okay, enough chat. Now, let's log on to the extranet.

Okay, we're on the extranet.

And I've hit a blank. I just realized I don't know what the hell the search website is for this thing. True, we got tons of mentions to the extranet, but I don't remember if they ever mentioned their search function. Fuck. Ah, well, we'll have to make do with--

Oh, hey, the home page has a search bar! That's definitely convenient. Just remember: this home page has a search feature. For future reference.

All right. So, how do I type on this thing...?

I look on the screen, and then I see an icon on a corner of the screen with a letter in Times New Roman. Good to see that font hasn't fallen out of fashion. I touch it briefly on the display, and I see a virtual keyboard lay out before me. And the keys are arranged the same way.

Good thing I'm a reasonably good touch typist. Unfortunately, not much I can do about that. I touch the search bar, and when I see the customary line blink, I type in the items I want.

_Vexations Satie_

All right. Press enter. And now, the re...

...What?

No. No no no no no. This can't be right.

What the hell do you mean, no search results? What? That can't be right!

_Vexations Piano_

No. There are no search results for that either? Oh, no... Shit, this can't be good.

_Vexations 18 Hours_

Holy shit! No... This can't be good... Fuck... No, please don't let it be true...

_Vexations Sheet Music_

One search result came up. Maybe there's hope! I click on it.

It's not Erik Satie. It's a chamber piece written by some... Mangdalar Vorolis. Sounds turian.

And... Fuck, it's not what I'm looking for. Fuck!

Oh, no... Please, don't let it be true... Please, please, please don't let it be true.

_Erik Satie_

With a bit of hesitation, I press enter.

_No search results have been found for "Erik Satie"_.

... No... No, it can't be true. Erik Satie has to exist in this universe. This can't be... No...

Fuck... No, it's not true! It's impossible! This can't be...

No. Vexations doesn't exist in the Mass Effect universe. The fucking _composer_ doesn't exist! This isn't... No... No...

I don't know how I can get home! And now, I'll never know if I died, or if...

Wait a minute. Died. Most people...

_That's it!_ I _don't_ need _Vexations_ to go back home! It's a wild theory, but given the circumstances... I remember when I would read fanfiction that most self-insert authors kill themselves in the real world before winding up in their universe of choice. And then maybe if they were lucky they could find some magical device to bring them back. This isn't a self-insert fanfic I'm in right now, but maybe the reverse could apply where the mystical elements are what get me in and the death is what gets me out?

In that case... I could get shot down. But the medics would make sure that wouldn't happen. So maybe plotline death will suffice. Where in the game...?

_Virmire! Of course!_ I could let Ash or Kaidan go with Kirrahe's men, and then I could stay behind to activate the nuke! Maybe then, the blast will kill me and I can go home! And I can see my friends again! Of course, that depends on what kind of Shepard we're dealing with here. But I know she'll go after the one with Kirrahe's men. She told me it was her job to look after her subordinates, after all. Maybe that'll hold true for Kirrahe's men? No, it will. I know it will.

Okay! So, I'm gonna go about the plot, I'm gonna die on Virmire, and I'm gonna be back home! And until then, I get to find things out about the _Mass Effect _universe, and it'll make for interesting fanfiction when I get back! Sweet!

Only problem is, I might hurt those people. But... a part of me misses home. And a part of me wishes I could see my younger brother. Speaking of which, I'll have to work him into the cover story. I can hardly spend a day without thinking about him; he's that important to me.

Well, don't worry, Augie. If things go right, I'll be back home soon enough. And I'll be back to composing on actual paper again!

In the meantime, I better verify if my favorite things are still here.

So going to the search bar, I type a name.

_Edgard Varèse_

I hit enter, and I'm bombarded by results.

Hey, today's my lucky day! Liara's arrived, I've been deemed worthy to go on missions with the rest of the crew, I've formulated a plan, I've pitched the movie night idea to Shepard, it's gelled, and I found out that my favorite composer not only exists in the ME universe, but is also the subject of great admiration from salarians and asari everywhere. _Yes._

My life is awesome right now! I love this!


	5. Chapter 4

_A/N: Okay, so the plot thickens. We decide to get ourselves killed at Virmire. And that should be that, since Virmire isn't as far away as we'd like._

_But it wouldn't be fun if it was that simple, would it? I'll say it now: the Virmire chapter will be massive. And it will be crazy! You'll see when we get to that part, but for now, let's just say that things are going to be rather odd._

_And in other news, it seems that Vexations doesn't appear in the Mass Effect universe. Makes me wonder: what other not-exactly-major-composers are non-existant in that universe?_

_You shall see soon. For now it's time to start the chapter of Noveria. As for this one, it's the longest chapter I've written in a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time. It feels wierd writing chapters that are longer than 10,000 words again, but hey that's life for you. Plus, three firefights, and if you know me well action scenes are _not_ my strong suit. Still, I'll do my best._

_Also, bonus points to anybody who figures out how much dialogue is transcribed from the game itself._

* * *

_"Despite all the lunacy of the last century, all the absurdity of war and genocide, we believe that humans being are rational and are made to seek the truth."_

_-_Timothy Radcliffe

* * *

Chapter 4: Noveria

Okay, so Shepard took a ground team of four other people with her today. They are Garrus, Wrex, Ash, and myself. This is gonna be fun. True, Ash might ruin it for me, but hey, I have to live with that, right?

Ah, well. I'm just suiting up right now. We've landed at Noveria, and everything here seems to be going as smootly as it can with a bitchy ground team.

As soon as I suit up in my quarters, I give myself a nice, long look in the mirror. I'm in my new armor that I purchased at a recent trip to the Citadel that we made before going to Noveria. I've got gray standard-issue armor that's had a paint scheme customized courtesy of the Normandy's crew. I painted in a few orange floral designs with Ashley's help. Or, rather, I told her what I had in mind and she helped hold things in place while I brought a spray can to it. Because god damn it, I can't draw! Anyway, I've also added a few more things to my armor, including a few designs in the style of one of the _Dragon Age_ tatoos that is in the character customization for that, painted in black along my arms. It's a pretty light-weight armor, but it allows me to run pretty quickly.

I give myself one last look before running a hand through my hair and making sure it stays back. The last thing I need is to see some shades of brown in my face during a firefight. The crew's insisted I get a crew cut, but I absolutely won't allow it. I like my hair the length it is, although if you ask me I might get a haircut soon anyway as I can actually bite the tips off of a few strands of hair if I play with it long enough.

Ah, well, I'll worry about that another time. For now, there's the issue of Noveria. I turn around to make sure my pistol and my assault rifle are on my back where I can get them before I nod, smiling.

All right, here goes nothing.

I step outside and head to the air lock. On my way there, I bump into Tali.

"Oh, hey Tali," I say as I stop where I am.

She gives me a look over before smiling. "Hello, Art," she says. "You don't look too bad in your new armor."

Oh, dear... Actually, I rather like the way this armor looks on me. Grey very much suits me well. "Thanks," I say a little sheepishly. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who likes how it looks on me."

"Really?" she asks.

"Yeah," I reply. "Ash thinks the orange is out of place. I dunno. I like the orange there: I think it's a nice counterbalance to the grey. Plus, it's my favorite color, so..."

The quarian shakes her head as she crosses her arms. "You're a little silly sometimes," she says, and I can sense she's trying to fight down a chuckle. "But still, it's good to know that you're... optimistic. Especially if the color says anything."

I shrug. "You know what they say," I say. "Always look on the bright side of life." And here, I start whistling the tune. "Always look on the light side of life." I whistle the tune again.

Her expression is hard to read under the mask, but I imagine she's giving me an inquisitive stare. "Old Earth object, I take it?" she asks.

"Vid," I reply. "It's called _Monty Python and the Life of Brian. _It's really funny, and I plan to bring it to our first vid night." Yep, Shepard approved of the vid nights. So as soon as we leave Noveria, I'm bringing the first movie of it all. It's a great thing, too, because Monty Python thankfully exists in the ME universe. Even if I do say Jehova.

"Huh," she says. "Any information on what it's about?"

"You need a basic understanding of Earth's religions to understand it well," I reply, shrugging. "I'll explain it when we watch it."

She nods, looking at me. "I'm looking forward to it," she says.

I smile and then change the subject. "It_'_s too bad you're sitting out of this mission," I say. "I would've liked to see how you handle this mission.

Tali shrugs. "Well, you sat out of the last one, so I think it's only fair," she says.

I shrug. "Yeah, gun training's been a little tough on my mind," I say, gesturing with my arms. "But, well, here I am, about to go on a mission with Shepard!"

"Indeed," she says. "I hope you have something interesting to say when you get back about your first military mission ever."

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Doubt it," I reply. "I'll probably come out more shellshocked than not. Either way, this will be pretty hard to get used to."

"We'll see," she says. "Be careful out there."

I nod in reply, giving her a thumbs up. "I'll do my best," I tell her, smiling.

And with that, we part for a time, walking away from each other as I head to the airlock where the rest of the crew is probably waiting right now.

* * *

Wrex gave me a glance as I showed up in the airlock, giving me a glance. Shepard was the only other person there, and he gave me a once over.

"So I see you like to show up to everything early," he says, indicating my person.

I have to stifle laughter. "Trust me, it's to the point where I think it's a problem," I say. "I once showed up an hour early to a viola lesson. I waited an hour for a one hour lesson..."

"Well, timeliness is always a good thing," says Shepard as we talk softly.

"I dunno," I say, rubbing my arms softly. "It always makes me paranoid about deadlines. If I miss a deadline, I tend to freak out. Just so you know."

Wrex simply grunts in reply. "At least we won't have to worry about leaving you behind," he says.

I give him a cold glance as soon as these words leave his mouth. I'm about to leave a sarcastic comment when I see Garrus and Ash walk into the airlock. We pause where we are as the two of them enter. Ash nods to me.

"I see you got your new armor," she says.

I nod, smiling softly. "Feels much better than Kaidan's, I can tell you that much," I say, crossing my arms and drumming my fingers on my elbows.

"And it doesn't look too bad either," adds Garrus as he nods to me. "Just, be careful out there, rookie."

I nod. "I plan to be, Garrus," I reply. "Almost to the point where I think it could be a problem."

And we stand in the airlock, waiting for the pressure to equalize between the two locations.

* * *

My first impressions of Noveria are inherently terrible.

First impression: it's fucking cold here! Like, it's worse than Boston here! It's shocking how much heat my armor is able to contain, but damn me if I'm not shivering my ass off here! I never thought I'd have to deal with this kind of weather. Honestly, it's a little annoying. But it'll be all right eventually, seeing as how, well, we'll be indoors most of the time. But still, I fear having to get that garage pass, seeing how bloody cold it is.

Second impression: the people are really fucking hostile. And it's not like Miami where most people are just negligently hostile. No, it's where everybody is _openly_ hostile. Seriously. It's like He-who-must-not-be-named that's not from Harry Potter had a thousand babies with a lady who's just as shocking and unbelievable as he is. Not a good image, as I can't see a racist, homophobic, and self-loathing 22-year old high school drop-out in a suburb of Seattle who works at Target getting laid with _anyone_, but still. I wish I could have just punched some of these people. That would have made me happy already.

Hm... speaking of him, I wonder what he's doing right now. Undoubtedly he's trying to get famous again only to fall flat on his face. Fucker will never realize that maybe he should have been nice to people instead of trying to antagonize them, especially for a stupid little reason like a pairing. Also, that being a hypocrite who hates on furries while trying to write in the Camp Lazlo or Land Before Time fandoms (of all things) doesn't serve anyone, especially when your fanfics are pretentious pieces of shit with horrendously uneven pacing, uninteresting characterizations, and language use that makes you seem like Edward Bulwer-Lytton if he spelled every twentieth word wrong. I'll still never get over that incident at all, and especially not what I thought when I tried to read his stuff.

And now I'm getting off track. Where was I?

Oh yeah.

Third impression: given how much of a slimeball Anoleis will undoubtedly be, dealing with the politicians will not be fun. It'll be even worse than dealing with the whole change of scenery bit. At least the Council won't openly brush us off until after Virmire, and by that point I likely won't be here anyway, so I won't have to deal with it. This, I will have to deal with, and it makes me mad having to find ways to sit back and watch talks with a guy who takes bribes without wanting to punch the son of a bitch so hard he'll vomit last week's lunch.

Combined impression: I fucking hate Noveria.

And I'm hating it more with each step I take. Talking to Gianna was nice enough, but then we're beginning to really hate Administrator Anoleis. Gods, I'm getting annoyed. And I can see the rest of the squad is too, as we're going somewhere else to see if we can find a garage pass. And as we walk along, I groan as we walk along.

"These guys are beginning to get on my nerves," I complain, shaking my head. "First they're hostile, then they're meddling, and now they're denying us stuff that we need, even to a Spectre!"

Wrex chuckles at this. "Nice to know someone else feels the same way," he says.

Garrus shakes his head. "You're not the only two," says Garrus. "I'm beginning to get sick of all this myself."

"Make that four of us," adds Ash, shrugging. "Five if Shepard counts?"

"They're wasting our time," she says. "We have to find out what the Conduit is before Saren does, and their meddling isn't helping us at all. So this isn't all that great."

"Nice to know we're all on the same page here," says Garrus with a gesture. "Reminds me too much of C-Sec..."

I raise my eyebrow at this. I'm beginning to see the rise of Archangel here! Even this early he resents C-Sec? Hm. Shepard might have a hard time convincing him back to C-Sec later. Hm....

Whatever. "Too many regulations is a bad thing," I say. And I would know it too well, if the fact that my parents, my uncles, and my grandparents bicker about it too much says anything. Can't say I blame them, though; they _did _narrowly escape the Castro regime after all. Shame; he was the popular guy in the University of Havana if what my grandmother says is anything to go by.

Garrus can only shrug at this. "Maybe," he says, shrugging. "Either way, something didn't seem right about him."

"I got that feeling too," adds Shepard. "As if he was trying to hide something..."

I shrug as we move along. "Maybe there's something else we don't know?" I ask. "Like, maybe there's something Gianna has in mind?"

"Doubt it," replies Garrus. "I just hope we don't take too long to get to Peak 15. Who knows what Benezia is up to in there?"

Turn your head a little to the right and you'll know who knows that information, Garrus.

"Whatever it is, we're not gonna solve it by standing here," says Shepard behind us. "Come on, let's get moving."

"If it means talking to another annoying politician, can we punch him if he gives us a hard time?" I ask as we move along to meet up with Gianna again.

This is met with a glare from Shepard, Wrex nearly pausing as he find this question quite amusing. But seriously, I've had enough of these kinds of politicians. And I'm pretty sure everybody else has.

But I'm sure we won't need to be punching any more politicians. Next stop: garage pass. I hope. It all depends on how well we do with proving that Anoleis is corrupt.

* * *

And, it's apparent that we've got a Paragon Shepard here.

And this makes itself apparent as we see Anoleis get dragged off by the police. Arrested for corruption indeed. I felt a coy smile crawl up my lips as I see him get dragged away, with Shepard standing in front of us with her arms crossed.

"Well, he had it comin'," I comment off-handedly. "He only had himself to blame."

"Couldn't put it better myself," adds Ash, shaking her head.

"And to think, he was the corrupt one," says Garrus, crossing his arms.

Well, you never know, Garrus. There was that one CSI New York episode where the lawyer was the one that killed everyone and called the city out on all of the deaths. And there is the fact that actual serial killers do keep tabs on the police. So, there is that bit in there.

"Sometimes people like to divert the blame," I say, crossing my arms. "But, he got his due, and he won't be annoying us with his stuck up regulations any more. Good thing, too. I was about ready to punch the son of a bitch in the face."

"So was I," says Wrex, chuckling softly at this. "Shepard, have we got that garage pass yet?"

"We do," she says. "And with this, we can finally go to Matriach Benezia."

I nod, crossing my arms. "All right, what are we waiting for?" I ask. "Let's get ourselves over to Peak 15 and get this over with!"

Shepard nods, and then we all move out to the garage of Noveria. This is gonna be pretty fucked up, especially with the Geth army that's waiting for us. Shit, I wish I could say something about that. But, my cover needs to stay put, so yeah. And that is rather fragile.

We move about the compound, heading down to the garage where we know we will be able to head to Peak 15. When we finally get there, we see a bunch of boxes scattered about. I'm a little wary as everything seem odd about these arrangements. Especially how the boxes are suspiciously placed. Yeah, cover systems would be a little crazy, I should think...

Before we get a chance to move forward, though, someone takes a shot at us. It doesn't hit, but it alerts us enough. I literally dive behind cover, Shepard and the others grabbing their weapons as they gravitate to the cover. Before Ash can take her place next to me, I pull out my assault rifle, checking the heatsink before glancing up.

"You could have drawn your weapon first," she says.

I give her a glance, and then I pop out of my cover. Sure enough, there are geth coming on us now. I take a few shots at one of them, and it goes down as I feel my shields slowly deplete. I dive back behind cover and shrug to the woman standing next to me.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry, if you'll pardon the expression," I say. "Anyway, I'm more useful to you alive than dead, and I'd rather make sure I can stay alive first, if you know what I mean."

She raises her eyebrows, rising up out of cover and firing a few shots before ducking back down as I reload my gun.

"As you say," she says, shrugging.

I take it as "do whatever you want". Well, I'm not planning on pulling a Rambo any time soon, so...

I come back out of my cover and fire at a geth that Garrus had gotten a few shots on. I fire briefly, and am satisfied when it blows to bits. Yay! I killed my first geth!

And my shields are depleting. Get back behind the cover.

I do so, and I scan the area as I wait for my shields to regenerate.

If the entire garage is going to be like this, it's gonna be a long fight. And indeed, it seems that way as Shepard is already beginning to advance a little bit through the boxes. Might be a good idea to follow close behind.

I leap out of my cover and dash to a nearby set of crates, taking a few shots at a geth that had aimed its gun at me before ducking behind cover again. I'm behind the crates before it can shoot, and so I quickly glance up and fire a few more shots at the advancing army. The geth slowly come down, and I look to my side briefly to see Garrus and Wrex firing away with Shepard ducking under the cover. I duck back down myself, Ash rising up to shoot at the geth.

As I reload, I can't help but think about how surreal this all is. I never thought I'd ever get into a firefight in my life, and yet here I am shooting at sentient robotics.

Huh. Life is quite funny like that. No time to dwell on it.

I rise up and fire my gun at more geth troopers. This time, I manage to deplete shields, and the geth is destroyed with a shotgun to the face from Wrex. Fun times indeed.

We continue like this for quite some time. Yep, my worst fears are definitely realized. I am the worst squadmate of the bunch. I do tend to get things, but I'm the one least confident about escaping my cover and also the least confident about staying out of cover. It's not unfounded, as I lose my shields quite often. And the Rambo approach won't exactly work, but stilll. At least my aim is only getting better. That's a good thing, I guess.

But I'm still the one with the fewest shots, though some of them have been to good effect as I raise my assault rifle and fire at more geth troopers. We advance ever so slowly in the garage to Peak 15, and I'm afraid of what will happen next. We advance, though, and eventually we see the geth's advance start to slow down. And eventually, the geth stop coming all together.

Huh. I guess that comes with there being no spawn points in real life. Ah, well.

We stand up and holster our weapons. I nod to Shepard as she moves forward.

"We're part of the way there," she says. "If we keep going, we'll be at Peak 15 soon enough."

We all nod, and without another word we move after the commander, keeping quiet as we approach Peak 15. I share an apprehensive glance at the crew, and they all nod at me as we prepare for the worst.

* * *

When we get to Peak 15, we see that the power has been turned off and that it looks for the most part abandoned. Oh, dear, here come the _Doom 3 _comparisons...

"The facility's power is off..." says Shepard. "That can't exactly be a good sign."

Thank you, Captain Obvious. "Something must have happened here," says Garrus. "Something... not very good."

"In that case, we better keep our guard up," says Ash. "We never know what we can find in here..."

Can't argue with that logic. Even if I already know.

... And I just lost the game. Again. Fuck my life. Sooner or later, I need to introduce the game to these guys so I can start frustrating them into hilarious shenanigans. I just hope Joker doesn't find out about it, 'cause that'll lead to some pretty bad things.

A shot is fired at us, and then we suddenly retreat behind cover, Wrex, Garrus, and Shepard on one side and Ash and myself on the other. We look out, and we see the forms of geth troopers in the dim lighting.

"Oh, God damn it, there are more of these things here?" I ask as I draw my pistol and edge towards the cover.

"Looks like we're going to have to deal with it," says Shepard. I couldn't agree more.

We have a firefight with geth troopers as they start to come up. Damn things are annoying to fight, especially since Wrex is our only biotic here. That gets annoying when they put up their holographic shields or whatever. And in this narrow hallway, we have to get creative.

And so I come out of cover and fire a few pistol shots at the feet. Not quite a good spot, but with their odd hexagonal shields up it's the only option we really have right now. We keep on this peripheral firing pattern, making sure the geth can't really get at us. I'm still using my pistol, and since Ash is on the wall I used for cover we both silently agreed to alternate. While I reloaded, she fired shots. And while she reloaded, I got in a few shots. My aim is still pretty bad, but more often than not I'm hitting something. That's a good sign, I guess. Especially since I'm getting much better with my headshots now. It helps that the geth heads are rather long from where I'm standing.

I duck back in once, thinking again about all this. I reload quickly as Ash gets a few shots, and then I join her in firing to create a near seamless fluidity in motion as the other team reloads. I sense that and decide to stay out of cover a little longer. I feel my shields deplete as Ash then comes out of her own cover and fires. When I retreat, she nods to me, smiling softly. Okay, I got more approval from her.

I look across briefly as I reload, and I see that the others aren't having as tough a time as we are with reloading. Wrex of course is out over there, firing his shotgun at any enemies that get to close. Garrus prepares a sniper rifle, and coming out he fires one shot before retreating back behind the cover again. Shepard is smart, and uses her biotics instead of her guns in this case to get at the robotic beings that are flying at us. Huh, I guess we've got ourselves in good hands. This shouldn't be too hard.

And it isn't. The geth that come assault us aren't too high in numbers. I count around twelve, thirteen geth troopers, and it took a few shots from everyone and we were all right. They went down rather easily once we had gotten past the whole shield bit, and even then it wasn't that annoying as I found another way to get at them even then. And after the ten geth troopers were down, there was silence as Shepard peered out.

"All right, that's all of them," she says, all of us coming out of our cover. "I get the feeling these won't be the last hostiles we come across."

I shake my head at this, crossing my arms. "Probably not," I say.

I feel Ash give me a glance to the back of my head. Okay, that's my cue to shut the hell up. Apparently, I talk too much. It's my specialty, though, and somehow I never realize when I'm doing it.

We go about the small place, keeping our weapons at the ready in case we get assaulted by something. We're walking along when suddenly we notice the two security turrets mounted on the walls. They don't fire at us, but they're also pointing in. At this, I raise an eyebrow and very narrowly fight down the urge to comment on it. It wouldn't exactly be good form, after all.

We see another turret on the wall, and then we see it's also pointed in. I grab my assault rifle from behind, and look at the turrets.

"Why would they point the turrets in?" asks Wrex as we move along.

"That... does seem to go against all logic," adds Garrus.

"Maybe it's intended to keep something in there..." says Ash. Well, she's not too far from the truth.

Shepard looks up at them before bringing up her arm, a blue aura surrounding her arm. She looks up, and then she points her arm at one of the turrets. Very quickly, I see the turret smoke as it most likely overheats. Huh. Interesting solution there, Shepard. She turns her arm to the other turret and does the same thing, the turret overheating with a slight hissing sound in opposition to what it did earlier. Okay, so the turrets are overheated now. Fun times abound, I guess.

She nods to us. "Keep your eyes open," she tells us. "We don't know what's in these labs, and we should be careful."

We all nod, and we keep our weapons ready. I take out my assault rifle because I'm sure it'll be the best thing to use against a rachni once we find them in there. So we move into the door, and we slowly advance. We find ourselves in a bunch of passages that would be a nightmare for anyone who's fan of the _Alien_ movies. And it's the kind of place I would expect anything to go wrong in, really. I grip my pistol, knowing we might come up to something first.

We find that the area around the lab is mostly empty. We do encounter a few geth units a few times, but those are taken down with relative ease. Ah, mooks. Always nice to see an entire race of them. Although those juggernauts are a bit much to handle. But eh, what can you do?

We are constantly reminded that we have to manually turn everything on again, thanks to that annoying voice that won't shut up. We commented on it the first time we heardit, but as we travel along, we find that we're just a little annoyed at it. It's starting to remind me of the fire alarms back in my apartment building. Gah, the damn things were so fucking loud it was annoying. Especially when they would have fire drills at 3 in the morning...

My thoughts are interrupted by something I hear. It sounds like something crawling along the vent with very thin legs. Hearing this, I dart around, my pistol slightly elevated as I try to listen for it again.

"Serviceman?" asked Ash.

I turned to her to see her looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. I turned to her, keeping my weapon level.

"I thought I heard something," I said. "It sounded like something that was crawling... in the walls."

"I heard it too," said Garrus before Ash could reply. "Good to know I wasn't the only one who heard that."

"And if I know anything from sci-fi vids, it's that sounds coming from the walls are _never_ a good sign," I say, keeping my weapon level. "I'd be just a little wary if I were the rest of you."

Shepard seems to acknowledge this. "Keep your firearm out at all times," she says. "If what Art and Garrus are saying is true, we'll need to stay on constant alert."

The only sign of protest we get from anyone is a slight grumble from Ash, but she shrugs and pulls out her pistol. We continue advancing through the labs, and we wander around trying to figure out what will happen next.

And then, I hear the sound again. This time, I hear it get a little closer and it is a little louder, I raise my weapon up. My head is darting around trying to figure out the source of the sound.

"I heard it too," says Ash, looking up at the ceiling above.

"It's likely coming from the venthillation shaft," says Wrex, cocking his shotgun as he pointed it up at the roof. "And if it's what I think it is, there will be hell to pay..."

As soon as he says this, we suddenly hear the sound again. I raise my weapon, looking up at the venthillation shaft. I bite down the urge to point out the painfully obvious there and as the sounds build in intensity, all of our guns are aimed at the shafts.

And then, something bursts from the shafts just in front of me. It looks like a cross between a large spider and a shrimp. No, I'm not kidding. It sees me and starts to rush forward.

"Holy shit!" I scream out, and I fire at the thing in my astonishment. The first shot I fire misses, but the second one manages to hit it. It explodes at this, and then we all turn towards the shaft that it came out of. Wrex stays with his back to us, however, and suddenly we find a whole legion of these things come running at us from the vents. Some of them fire acid at us, and I dodge this as well as I am able to. Some gets on my armor, and while it does eat away at the metal it doesn't burn through like in the alien movies.

And then we start moving back as Ash, Garrus, Shepard and I fire into the crowd of things behind us. Shit, the rachni are more versatile than I think. I caused a few workers to blow up, but I was so shocked by the sudden appearance that they were slowly gaining distance on us.

I remember stumbling so that I fell on my ass. I ended up crawling back quickly, firing my gun into the crowd as frantically as I could manage while crawling on my hands and feet. It was a bit hard as to move faster I had to use my arms. It almost got to the point where I was crawling away. Thankfully, Garrus found a break in the crowd and I felt a talon hoist me up onto my feet. I nodded, taking my pistol and aiming into the crowd, firing a few more shots.

"Thanks!" I say when I reload.

And we continue to fire at the swarm of rachni. Some of them explode, some of them shoot acid at us. One of them explodes right in my face, and I feel the acid that was stored inside the worker getting all over me. And... ow, it burns! It burns!

In panic, I nearly drop my pistol, and my movements start to get more frantic. With the dry side of my armor, I try my best to get the acid off of my face. Thankfully, I'm able to get most of it off before it can do any real damage, and so I continue firing into the legion.

And finally, the workers start to diminish. We're rather far along inside of the labs by that time. I'm breathing in and out heavily, with Ash, Garrus, and Shepard all looking at the ridiculous concentration of acid that was eating away at the floor behind us. We're sitting there in awe for a few seconds at what we've just seen, myself at how sudden it was, and I can only assume the others are the same at what these things are.

And finally, when Shepard shoots the last one, we stare at the damage left behind. In some places, the acid is so concentrated it's burned through the floor. It's eating away at everything else, too. And god, that smell... What the fuck is that? It's disgusting! Oh, dear, I wish we had done more experiments with acid in Chemistry. That would certainly explain what the hell all this shit is with the awful, awful smell...

Wrex turned to us, shaking his head. "I want to pop off a few turian heads right now," he says. "I thought we had exterminated those things."

I turned to Wrex, gesturing to them. "Forget the turians!" I say, exasperated. It's part true, because I'm startled, but since I need to play along... "What the fuck were those things?"

"The rachni," he tells me. "We killed all of them. Looks like they decided to get revenge. They're a little late for that..."

Oh. Right. The Rachni Wars. Uh... wow, shit, I just realized how angry you must feel about this. Especially at the turians. Yeah, this isn't going to gel well with Wrex, I just realized. Yep, not at all...

Garrus shrugs listlessly. "There's still reason for the Krogan Monument to be in the Citadel, though," he says, checking his gun briefly. "They were a threat..."

"And then you turned on us when we liberated the galaxy of them," points out Wrex with a small scowl in his tone. "I still resent that. But I resent their presence here even more."

"Well, now, that's hardly fair to us," replies Garrus as Ash, Shepard, and I watch the conversation unfold. "Especially not when there were so many krogans out there after the wars. You almost became as big a problem as they did."

Wrex says nothing as he crosses his arms, but the angry glint in his eyes tells all. "Young, foolish, and paranoid. As all of your kind are." With this deadpan, the tension in the air is palpable. If Garrus has anything to say to that, he doesn't bring it to light.

I shake my head, sighing softly as I check my ammunition on my gun. Huh, it's running low. I guess it's from not reloading throughout all that. "Today's just not your day, Wrex, especially not if what I know of the Rachni Wars is true," I comment, reloading my pistol. "Sorry, Garrus, but I've gotta agree with Wrex here. Losing your ability to reproduce after ridding the galaxy of a virulent spieces that it turns out wasn't totally killed off anyway would be enough to ruin my day too." Although in all honesty I probably would've said 'stubborn' in place of 'paranoid'. Especially when it comes to their politicians. I do _not _want to have to deal with the turian councillor anytime soon...

I holster my pistol and take out my assault rifle as soon as I finish, clicking it against my armor for the humor to sink in. Wrex chuckles wryly at this, and he shrugs.

"Good to see someone who agrees with my side of things," he says, holstering his shotgun.

"This isn't the time to talk about turian-krogan relations," says Shepard, crossing her arms. "I've got a feeling Benezia is involved with the Rachni."

I nod at this, everybody else in the squad agreeing. "Definitely seems like it," says Ash.

Shepard looks down the hallway that we're going down. "We should get the main power," she says. "And while we're at it, we should see what else is going on. See if there are any survivors."

"Can't say no to that," I say, shrugging.

And with that, we move on, keeping our ears open in case the Rachni decide to attack again.

* * *

Well, we've come to a tech room. It's a very small thing where there are multiple consoles around. We're looking to reset Mira, that's for sure. It's a rather small room, and if memory serves me correctly the floor is kind of like the stretching room in the Haunted Mansion. No matter; that shouldn't make things too hard. Shepard nods to us as she enters the small room.

"All right, I'll try to get this thing back up and running to see what we need to do," she says. "You four, stay out here, and keep your eyes out for the rachni and the geth."

"Yes, ma'am!" I say, the others mirroring with their own ways of confirming they hear it.

Shepard nods and turns to the pad that allows her to enter the core. The floor below her drops rather quickly, and it leaves us standing there watching as she descends down there. We look to each other and nod.

"So we wait," I say.

"That we do," says Garrus.

"If anything, it's going to be pretty long," says Ash with a shrug. "I didn't think she was all that tech-saavy."

"Well, you'd be surprised at what people can do," I point out, beginning to pace around. "It's... surprising. Sometimes shocking. Other times, you come to expect it after a while. I dunno. Life is a little wierd like that."

Ash raises an eyebrow. "You really like saying your mind, don't you?" she asks.

I give her a rather cold glance as I cross my arms. "If I told you _everything_ on my mind, you'd recoil a bit in shock," I replied, pacing around in front of them. "You could always take the shotgun off the wall and fire two warning shots into my head."

The gunnery chief shakes her head. "No, I don't want a court martial," she says. "Besides, where would that leave us? We need all the help we can get."

"Assuming that he'll still stay at the Citadel after all this is done, of course," replies Garrus. "I've got a feeling you'll be heading back to Earth once we've caught or killed Saren."

Killed, for your information. "Well, you never can tell with these things," I reply. "I might change my mind. I might like the Citadel. I might move there after all this is done. You never know." Or, I could be back home before the whole Saren business is dealt with. You don't need to know that.

"Well, if you're going to stay, I hope you consider staying in the Alliance military," says Garrus. "You're not too bad a soldier."

I shake my head, my pacing coming to a stop. "Wouldn't dream of it," I reply. "Music is my life, and I honestly can't imagine myself doing anything else at this point."

Wrex gives me an odd look. "Figures," he says. "Your days as a soldier didn't last long."

Again, Wrex, you never know. "Well, it's just that I've never seen myself shooting people for the rest of my life," I reply. "As long as I can remember music has always been a constant companion. Hearing it, it's a companion. Playing it, it's a companion. I've always been drawn in by music. That's never changed. And I don't think it will."

Ash shrugs at this. "Suits me," she says. "That's one less prson I have to order around."

It's the sound of my voice, isn't it? I suppose the dubbing of 'cartoon voice-over guy' I got at NYSMF last year sort of attests to that. Either way, it leads me to want to kill people if they mock me for it. Ah, well, at least she isn't explicitly mentioning--

"Especially not with your whiny voice."

... Ash, you bi--!

My thoughts are interrupted as we suddenly hear the elevator Shepard's on rise to us. We see her finally, and I cross my arms.

"Told you it wouldn't take too long," I say, smirking smugly at Ash.

And before she can retort, we see a holographic woman appear in front of Shepard. It stands there for a brief second before speaking.

"It looks like you're trying to restore this facility," says the voice. "Would you like help?"

I glance at Garrus briefly before Shepard replies. "Help would be great," she says. "Who are you."

"This system is monitored to respond to the name 'Mira'," she says. "May I ask your name?"

Oh, dear, can I just skip this?

"Commander Shepard," replies Shepard. "I work for the Citadel Special Forces and Reconnoisance."

Well, shit. Looks like I can't skip this part. Ah, well, time to let Shepard work her magic and see how we can correct all of this crap here...

* * *

Well, Mira helped us a lot. So now, we've more or less restored all of the landlines to the condition they were in before as well as getting the main reactor back online. And now, we're riding the tram to the Rift Station where there is supposed to be staff still alive. I check my weapons one last time before nodding to Shepard.

"Well, let's hope those guys are still alive," I say.

We all nod at this. "Hopefully, they won't be hostile," says Shepard. "Keep quiet, and let me do the talking."

We all nod at this as the tram comes to a stop. We move out through security, and sure enough, we see a human there. Slightly darker skin, too. All right, I think we know what's going on. He and two other people are standing behind crates with their guns pointed at us. When we get close, he tells his fellow guards to stand down.

We approach, and as per the plan we allow Shepard to come forward.

"Sorry," says the man. "We couldn't be sure what was on the tram."

Shepard shrugs. "I'd only be upset if they'd fired."

"Even hopped up on stims, they know the rule," he says. "Two legs; good. Four legs; bad. Look, you're human, and that's good enough that I won't shoot. I'd like to know who you are."

"My name's Shepard," replies our commander. "I'm a Spectre."

The captain says something I don't quite understand, but I let it slide seeing as how I don't really have any other option. When I am able to understand him...

"The aliens overran the hot labs last week," he continues. "Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore." To be fair, unless your name is Ellen Ripley I greatly doubt you could survive this kind of infestation with your sanity intact. "Next thing we knew they were crawling into my command post. We had a lot more staff then."

Shepard gives them a nod. "We've never seen anything like them," she says. "What do you know?"

"I'm not a xenobiologist," the captain replies. "They move fast, there are a lot of them. An asari was sent to take care of them, and she went into the hot labs yesterday. We haven't heard from her since."

Hm... my dishonesty meter is pinging a bit... "Benezia..." says Shepard. "Is she still over there?"

The captain shrugs. "I dunno," he replies. "I don't see what one person could do."

I shrug at this as Garrus speaks. "She's a Matriarch," he adds. "If she's survived for this long, I wouldn't be too surprised."

"There's an emergency elevator out by the trams," says the captain, handing something to Shepard. "This card will allow you to activate it. It can take you down to the hot labs. If you need any first aid, you can talk to Dr. Cohen in the med bay."

"Just a second, sir," I add in quickly. "You mentioned the staff. Is there... anything we could be able to help them with?"

At this, the captain shrugs. "Dr. Cohen is attempting to cure some kind of biotoxin," he replies. "He could use a little help with that, I take it... You will have to be screened for presence of the biotoxin, though, but that shouldn't be a problem."

I look to Shepard who had given me a small glare. She nods at this, and looks to the captain. "All right," says Shepard. "We'll go talk to Dr. Cohen, and we'll see what we need to do."

He nods. "Good luck with finding the Matriarch," he says.

Yeah, right. I just remembered you betray us, you son of a bitch.

As we walk away, Ash turns to us and we turn to each other to see what is up.

"Wait, do we have any injuries?" she asks.

I shake my head. "I picked up an arm injury, but some medigel took care of that," I say.

"And the rest of us are fine," says Garrus, looking at all of us briefly. "I say we split up and do our respective duties. It will make things faster, and it will help the scientists out a little."

Shepard nods at this suggestion and looks to the service elevator. "All right then," she says. "Wrex, Ash, you two are coming with me to the hot labs. Garrus, Art, you two will go down to Dr. Cohen and see what he needs."

"Sounds like a plan," says Wrex. "Good thing I got put on the interesting stuff." Yeah, especially since you'll be seeing a ton of rachni. And Garrus and I get to research a cure. I wasn't always a science mind, but hey.

"We should get going," I say. "We don't know how long until Benezia does stuff..."

Ash nods at this. "Yeah," she says.

"Then let's get moving. Art, Garrus, we'll meet up back here when we're done," says Shepard. "Move out."

We nod, and then Garrus and I head for the med bay as Shepard, Ash, and Wrex go completely seperate ways. I cross my arms as I head over there.

"So, who should do the talking?" I ask.

"It depends, but try not to say too much," replies Garrus. "I hear enough of your voice as it is... Hearing you ask all those questions..."

Oh, dear, him too? Dear lord... "If you start making up names about it, I'll deliver your head to the turian councillor on a silver platter," I threaten without missing a beat, pointing a finger in his face.

Instead of intimidating him, he laughs softly at this. "Right..." he says, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "I'll remember that when you get something you can actually cut my head off with."

Oh, god damn it! Foiled with my own threat! Well, there are worse things. I guess he could actually have called me something. But he didn't, so I have faith he won't actually do it on his own. Good thing, too: only I know how many times I've wanted to kill people over calling me 'cartoon voice-over guy' or 'Mickey Mouse' or some fucked-up bullshit like that. Ironically enough, the most injurious slander came from someone who didn't even hear my voice, so that makes it a bit wierd. Still, though, if anyone makes fun of my voice, I'm taking my pistol and shooting them.

Right. To the med bay!

* * *

Garrus and I both saunter down to the med labs, and we both see Dr. Cohen standing there tending to a patient. Looks like a pretty bad acid burn we've got there... Yep, this guy definitely has his hands full. Well, at least we get to do something fun. We had talked to that bitch Alestia Iallis before, and she kept on brushing us off every time we asked something. So, we went to Dr. Cohen instead. When we approach, he looks at us nervously.

"What? What do you want?" he asks, a little intimidated.

I raise my eyebrows. "Relax," I say, crossing my arms. "Captain Ventralis told us you could use a little help."

"Oh... the captain... of course..." says the doctor as he works away. "What did he tell you?"

"Well, he told us you needed help with some cure for a biotoxin," replies Garrus. "He didn't tell us any details, so I'm guessing you can tell us what to do with that?"

Zev nods and he gestures to the patients. "These patients are all ill with that biotoxin," he says. "There was... an accident. I have a non-disclosure agreement; I can't tell to anybody outside of the company."

Garrus gives me a brief glance. I shrug my shoulders. "Well, we could help you," I say, deciding to let him off the hook. "The details of the accident probably aren't too important at this time, but... we would like to help you out a bit."

Well, that, and because corporations can be full of scumbags. Clearly, the person running this lab was a scumbag, seeing as how they allowed for the rachni to come back and go all _Alien _on us. Damn, that was freaky. Of course, it'll also be fun, because then I get more ways to say 'corporations are evil'. People tend to think governments are corrupt and that corporations are the answer. And honestly, they forget that corporations are capable of the same corruption as governments. We are only human... er, sentient, after all...

Where was I? Oh yeah. Talking to Dr. Cohen.

"All right," he says. "We were working on a bioweapon. One that could affect a species. But there's no profit, so we were forced to adapt it so it could affect multiple species. And then Mira lost connection, and the quarantine failed..."

"So you didn't get a cure first?" asked Garrus, crossing his arms.

"No," replies Dr. Cohen. "We were in the final stages of synthesizing an antidote when the quarantine failed. We had to make sure it worked first."

I shrug at this, looking at the doctor as I spoke. "Well, I guess the details really aren't important," I say. "Since you were working on a cure, though, I wonder what happened to it?"

Dr. Cohen shakes his head. "I can't access the data for the cure," he says. "The data is in the quarantine labs. They were left there after the breach. And I can't access the quarantine labs right now."

I raise my eyebrows before Garrus speaks. "So, you would want us to enter the labs and get your data?" he asks.

"Something like that," replies Dr. Cohen. "Unless you have some degree in biochemistry?"

I shake my head. "No, I don't have that kind of expertise," I say.

"That said, though, there is more than one way to do that," adds Garrus. "If we kept communications up, then maybe we could let you know how your notes came up?"

The doctor looks around this work space, trying to find something that we could communicate with. When he comes up, he's holding a pair of (what are obviously vintage) communications devices at us. "Very well, then," he says. "I think the notes will be clear enough, but if that doesn't work I can always try to help you out with this."

"A vintage walkie-talkie, huh?" I ask as he hands me one of the devices. "I remember that one of my friends back on Earth used to have one of these. Fun times came about."

"I see," he says. "You'll need clearance afterwards, but since you seemed to have just arrived you should be fine."

"Okay," I say. "We'll do our best to help."

Dr. Cohen nods at us and smiles. "Good luck, and let me know when you are in the labs."

With this, I nod, and Garrus and I leave. As we go away, Garrus seems to look down at me.

"You like to talk a lot, don't you?" he asks.

I shrug. "More than I care to admit, I guess..." I reply. "Sometimes I run my mouth longer. You know how useless tangents are..."

Garrus in turn simply walks on. "Useless tangents, huh?" he asks.

"With a dash of absurdism thrown in," I reply. "You know how things are when people just run on and on in circles waiting for their turn to talk."

This confuses the turian, and he blinks uncertainly. "No I don't, apparently," he says. "Because I don't know what you're talking about."

Yep. "That's kind of the point," I reply.

This just confuses the turian more, such that he promptly decides to not bring that up again. We continue down, and we head over to the maintenance area from the med bay.

* * *

Well, that turian guard was a bit bitchy. Garrus complained about it when we went to the terminal. I looked to the desk where the notes laid, and I saw a few things scattered here and there. Huh. I was expecting paper for some reason. But then again, this _is _the future. I look down to the terminal, and check out the notes. Taking out the walkie-talkie, I press the button on it.

"All right, Dr. Cohen, we're here," I say. "You know, for there having been a problem where you had to leave it behind, it sure looks tidy."

There is a brief silence on the other end before the doctor replies back. "I see..." he says. "Have you found the notes?"

I look around, seeing some equations written in on a computer terminal. "Yeah, I have," I say. "Hm..." Well, I did enough chemistry out of high school anyway. So... yeah. We'll have to see what happens here. "Well, I don't have a biochemistry degree, but I do have knowledge of the elements, so... What compounds should I look out for?"

"Anything with nitrogen compounds should be fine," replies Dr. Cohen. "Keep an eye out for those notes. I would check out Phelps' notes most of all. I have a feeling he was on the right track with that."

"Phelps, got it," I say, and Garrus and I stand hunched over the terminal.

And then the two of us placed the walkie talkie on the table and worked through notes of biochemistry. It was neither of our strong suits, but Zev was super helpful. And eventually, we began to burn through the notes on the way to creating a cure. Garrus and I seemed to get more enlivened as we went on, and while the information was beginning to make my head hurt after a bit I can't say it wasn't fascinating. The turian did seem to have some insights, and there wer no major squabbles. There was a small disagreement, but... somehow, I managed to keep my temper in check. I can always do stuff later anyway. Especially when I get something I can cut through turian flesh with... Okay, that was dark. Garrus doesn't deserve that. And he can't, given that he survives a missile to the face...

And then, finally, we seem to have come to a solution. I do a couple more things on the terminal and I smile, proud of the results.

"I think we've got a match," says Garrus as we look at the terminal proudly.

"Excellent!" says Dr. Cohen "I can cure these patients... Thank you!"

"Save it for when we actually give you the cure," I reply with a shrug. "Glad we could help."

With this, I grab the walkie talkie, and turn around.

"Your mission ends here."

And there's Alesia, with about four geth. What are we but two guys, one of them who is inexperienced?

"Holy shit!" I say, quickly grabbing my assault rifle from where it stands on my armor. Garrus doesn't waste any time either, and he mimics the action almost to a T.

"You're a sleeper agent for Benezia, aren't you?" he asks, holding his assault rifle in front of him.

"Yes," she replies. "I was ordered to kill Shepard's team when I had the chance. That seems to have been made a little easier since she split her group up. And now, here you two are, in a lab very few people can get to."

With this, a biotic flare wraps around her body, and I suddenly feel myself get lifted off the floor. Oh, shit. No no no no no...

As I float in the air, Garrus helps and leaps behind cover. He takes fire at some of the geth, a few taking fire at my position. Fuck, shields depleting... The world's going upside down... Fuck...

Stay focused, Art. Just aim your assault rifle and--

Ow, fuck, my leg! Okay, my shields are dead. I'm fucked. Shit... Well, at least I won't have to wait until--

And I'm falling. I dodge a few bullets unintentionally at this, and then I fall on my stomach, my hands still hanging on to the assault rifle. Fuck, get up, get up!

I get up, ignoring the protest of my injured leg. Before Alesia can use biotics again, I've rushed at her and whacked her with the butt of my assault rifle. Stupidest move I could possibly do given how I have no shields at this point, but Garrus has taken down one of the geth by this time and there isn't really a very good place to find cover since the geth started moving around the room and hiding behind something won't matter. They're all concentrating on Garrus anyway, so I hope he has a plan to get out of that.

Me? Fuck the underlings. I'm going for the leader.

When she reels back, I grab my gun and fire at a very close range. She seems to be distracted as her shields go down, and this is enough. I take a brief moment to attempt to kick her, but before I'm able too I feel biotic force get applied. And then, I'm sent flying back, onto the desk on which Garrus, the doctor, and I developed the cure. I feel myself collide with something on the desk before I crash straight into something hard and metallic.

Huh, there was a geth right behind me. I'll take care of that. I lost a hold of my assault rifle somewhere along the line, so I grab the pistol and fire a few rounds into its mechanical head at near point blank range. Oh, boy... Ow, the terminal is hurting me...

I'm gonna be feeling that for a _while, _won't I? Shit...

I fire the rounds into the geth beneath me, and I hear it go through its automated self-deletion process before the light in its single eye dies.

I look back at Garrus, and I see that he wiped out the remaining two geth in the room. He's now trading fire with Alesia, and I decide that would be as good a time as any to try to get something on her.

That doesn't go too well. Ow, fuck. Ow ow ow ow ow...

She sees this, but this interrupts her fire with Garrus. He takes advantage of this and runs up to her, smashing her on the face with the assault rifle. He stands over her and fires a few more shots, and suddenly all is quiet in the laboratory. I can hear the sound of my own panting as the silence reigns out. Shit, how long did that firefight take? I don't know. But I'm definitely smarting from it.

A silence hangs in the air, and then Garrus turns to me. He walks over and bends down.

"Are you all right?" he asks.

"_No._" My reply is quick and abrupt. "Ah..." I stand up and put a hand to my back. "Oh, dear, I'm gonna be feeling that for a week."

"Bloody asari commandos," adds Garrus. "They can be dangerous, even for an experienced soldier. Luck is really on your side: lots of people die, and very few get out without scars when they encounter one of those things."

"I gather," I reply, activating my omni tool and applying medigel to myself. "Is the cure okay?"

Oh, that feels much better. I'm alive at last, and... I'm full of joy? Wait, why the... Swing your razor wide, Sweeney! Hold it to the skies! Freely flows the blood of those who moralize!

... Okay, my train of thought is really wierd. Back to my conversation with Garrus.

"Yeah, it's fine," he says.

Oh, that's much better. Hooray to medigel! I grab the walkie-talkie, feeling a little better. I press the button.

"Hey, Dr. Cohen," I ask. "Uh... About Alesia... did you notice anything odd about her?"

There is a silence before he replies. "Not that I would think..." he says. "Why?"

I glance at Garrus, and he simply nods. "She just tried to kill us," replies the turian. "She was a sleeper agent for Benezia."

"What...?" he asks. "But that... No... She was... No way... That can't be..."

I raise my eyebrow at this. "You're as surprised as we are, I see," I say.

"Yes," he replies. "She was stationed here a month ago by request of a donor to the labs."

I blink, not amused. "Let me guess," says Garrus, also clearly not amused. "Saren, the Specter."

"I think that was it," replies Dr. Cohen. "I don't really pay attention to that kind of thing, but... I remember the donor's name being something like that."

I shake my head. "Yeah," I say. "The cure's fine, though. We'll meet up in the med bay and give you the cure."

"Yes, of course," says Dr. Cohen. And with this, we stop the conversation as Garrus and I stand there.

I look at the turian, going down and picking up my assault rifle where it clattered when I lost my grip on it. "I dunno about you, but I've got a really bad feeling Shepard ran into the same kind of problem we did."

"I know the feeling," he says. "Let's just get back to Dr. Cohen and hope that Shepard is still alive."

I shake my head. "She's got Wrex and Ash," I say. "She'll still be ambushed, but she'll live." Besides, she isn't supposed to die until after Sovereign attacks the Citadel. And we've still got a long way to go before then.

"If you say so," says Garrus. "Come on. Let's get that cure to Dr. Cohen."

And without further ado, we leave the lab, taking note of the dead turian laying on the ground as we move through the lab with the cure.

* * *

When we head back to the tram station to meet up with Shepard, we're surprised by the sight of Captain Ventralis laying on the ground dead. I jump slightly at this, and then I see, Shepard, Wrex, and Ash all standing there with their weapons raised. As soon as they see us, though, they put the weapons down, and we both point to the captain.

"What happened?" I ask, gesturing. "I wouldn't think killing the only guy keeping these people safe would be warranted..."

"Bastard led us into a trap," replies Ash, shaking her head. "The hot labs were infested with rachni. I hope you guys had better luck."

Garrus and I look at each other, and I shrug. "The asari from the labs tried to kill us when we developed the cure," replies Garrus. "At least with that, we can be sure that Dr. Zev wasn't in with Benezia, as he was as surprised as we were."

"Yeah, bitch was an asari commando stationed here by Saren," I say, rubbing my back where I had collided into the terminal. "I'm gonna be feeling that damage for quite some time..."

"At least you're still alive," replies Wrex. "Do you guys have any idea where Benezia would be?"

I lift up the pass to the maintenance area that Dr. Cohen had given us. "Well, Dr. Cohen told us that the maintenance area would be the only place in the Rift Station where people could stay if they weren't anywhere else here," I say. "Maybe Benezia will be waiting for us there."

"I hope so," says Shepard. "I've had enough of searching this station for her."

I shake my head. It's apparent we all share this sentiment, and I hand her the device. She takes it, and nods.

"Come on," she says. "Let's go have a chat with Benezia."

And with this, we don't need anything more told us as we move into the maintenance area of the station.

* * *

We move through the maintenance corridors when we catch sight of something large. When we edge closer to it, we can see that it is a huge rachni in a tank. I tense at first, but seeing that it's trapped somewhere sets my mind at ease a little bit.

We move along, and then we see a woman at a control panel with an odd hat and a long black dress. The blue skin is kind of unmistakeable, even in this lighting. There she is! All right, we've found Benezia. Now it's time for the confrontation to occur!

"You do not know the privelege of being a mother," begins the matriarch without turning to face us. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness or despair." She faces us, and I see the matriarch in... her glory, I guess. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt, and slay Saren's enemies."

With this, she turns to us and advances. My grip steadies itself on my assault rifle, but even then I can't help the chill that runs down my spine. Wow, I never knew a woman with a ridiculous hat could be so damn intimidating. But then again, she is a matriarch, so she kind of does command a certain amount of respect. Shit...

"Have you faced an asari commando unit before?" she asks. Oh, fuck, I got my ass handed to me by one commando, I am not gonna look forward to an entire unit of these! "Few humans have."

Shepard shakes her head. "We don't have to fight," she says. "You can return to the Citadel with us."

Her reply is short, simple, and very to the point. "I think not."

Organ cluster much? Okay, either way that isn't a good thing. Her body lights up in a blue organic flare, and Shepard suddenly freezes in place. I grab my gun and run for cover very quickly next to Wrex. Ash and Garrus do the same as we both see an asari commando unit run out to greet us.

Oh, no, I'm not getting fucked over by you again! I come out of cover as soon as I see the commandos run out, and I fire away at the thing as Benezia walks back to her post. The commando takes aim at Shepard, but my bullets seem to surprise her as they deplete her shields. I see another commando rush towards us, her body flaring out.

And then I felt something nearly shove me away as our cover was blown away. I'm glad I'm extremely flexible, otherwise I'm sure my back would've snapped in half from the way it was bent over. Wrex took this time to fire at the commando I had surprised with a shotgun, tearing down what shields she had left. His attention turned to the othe commando as Garrus and Ash both loosed their fire on it. and I saw Shepard finally come out of her Benezi-induced freeze and she fires at the other commando.

As the first commando died, I turned my head and saw a third commando approach us. Taking my assault rifle, I fired at it briefly before I felt something like a punch to the stomach. Ow, fuck... I fall to the floor like a rag doll, and I know it's a biotic ability. Wrex thankfully is able to see this, and so he takes his attention to the commando as the second one falls thanks to Shepard. A few rounds of his shotgun are seen penetrating her shields, and then Garrus turns his attention to it one the commando that was on the bridge that Benezia was on and shoots at it. As it goes down, I feel well enough to stand back up, and I trade out my assault rifle for my pistol as we hear the doors open again.

And this time, it's an asari commando and two geth units. Wrex immediately goes after the commando, with Ash for support. I help Shepard and Garrus out with the geth. The geth go down rather easily, though, as I can see that they were clearly geth meant for long-range battle. My pistol and Garrus' assault rifle fire make short work of the one, while Shepard is able to disable one with a biotic attack that sends it hovering in the air. When I see this, I redirect my fire there and shoot at the geth until it seems to... uh... die. Whatever a sentient robot does when you put enough bullets into it.

We hear the doors whoosh open yet again after this, and then we see three geth units run at us. These are taken care of just as easily as everything else, especially since we don't have to deal with the biotic abilities of an asari commando. Again, I fired a few pistol shots at the geth, and checked on Wrex and Ash. They seemed to be doing fine, so I shot the other gth as Shepard did the same. When all is said and done, Wrex and Ash rejoin us and we nod to each other.

Right. Time to confront Benezia again.

We move up to the platform where the matriarch is standing. She seems to be fighting something. Pretty hard. But still, we're wary of what is going to happen next.

"This is not over," says the matriarch as we face her. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

We look at each other and shrug as Shepard answers her. "The rachni didn't agree with you," she says. "Why should I?"

Benezia seems to be fighting something. "I will not betray him," she says. "You will.... You--..."

She grips the control panel in front of her as she speaks. And then, after a brief period of time I see her arms tremble. With a pat on the arm I point it out to Ash, who squints and then sees what I see.

"You must listen," says the asari when she turns to us again. Now her face is softer. More... motherly, I guess. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. But the indoctrination is strong."

Shepard is skeptical at this. "Why should I believe you?" she asks, more out of curiosity than anything.

Benezia's gaze seems to linger on my briefly, and it's only when she turns her attention back to Shepard that I feel her gaze on me. Why...? "I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. Saving it for a moment when I could help destroy him. It will not last long."

"So you could turn on us," replies Shepard.

"Yes," says Benezia. "But it would not be my will, Shepard." With this, she advances to us. "People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of considerable size and its power is extraordinary."

Our commander nods. "Sovereign's not like other ships," she says. "Where'd it come from?"

Benezia hesitates briefly before continuing. "I cannot say," she says. "The geth did not build it. Its technology is far more advanced than that of any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve." She gazes at Shepard, and I can see that she is beginning to lose the fight with herself. "He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

The commander nods at this. "Someone on Noveria had it?" she asks.

Benezia nods. "Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy," she continues. "They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind. I was not gentle."

"Why does Saren need the Mu relay?" asks Shepard.

"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit," replies Benezia. "I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his counsel with me. I was merely a servant to his cause."

"You can still make it right," says Shepard. "Give me the information."

Benezia nods, a little doubtful. "I was not myself, but... I should have been stronger," she says.

She then walks towards Shepard, her face contorting into worry. "I transcribed the data to an OSD," she says, presenting something small to Shepard. "Take it. Please."

The commander moves up and takes the OSD from Benezia, who gazes down on us.

It's only then that someone other than the commander speaks. "Knowing where the relay is isn't enough," says Garrus. "We need to know where to go from there."

"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination," replies the matriarch. "But you must find out quickly. I tranmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived." Well, shitfucker.

"You have to stop--" she says, and I can see that her control is beginning to slip away. She makes it apparent as she walks away from us with her hands on her head. "I can't... His teeth are at my ear. You should... Uh... You should..."

Oh, dear, she's about to lose control of herself. Oh, no, that won't be very good.

But right when she's supposed to give in, I see a subtle hand motion, and then all seems to go eerily still around me. I look around, and I see that nobody is even breathing.

"Shepard?" I ask, looking up. "Shit, Shepard!"

"I do not have much time left," says Benezia, turning to me. "There is something I found on Saren's flagship. Something I must give you."

I look at the matriarch as I gesture to my squad. "Wait, you're telling me you just froze time?" I ask. "Just so I could talk to you?

Benezia nods, producing something odd from her dress. "It is vitally important that you get this," she says. "I... I had a vision when I touched it to give it to a man not of this universe."

Wait, what? No fucking way! She can't know... No way... There's no concievable...

"W-what?" I ask, the shock clear in my voice. "How the fuck did you--?"

"This... object that I am about to give you..." she says. "It has helped me seal the part of my mind I used to break free of his indoctrination. It helped me to find you. It is a good thing you were found before Saren could find you. If you appear in front of him, he will kill you without hesitation."

Well, there goes fighting Saren at the Citadel. Ah, well, I think I'll go and save the Council then. "Right," I say. "What... what did the vision say? "

"The vision told me that someday a man not of this universe would need to use it at the Citadel," she replies." For what, it would not say."

"Oh, dear," I say. "So you're telling me I'm some kind of chosen one?"

"Possibly," she says, presenting the object. "You must not show this to _anyone. _Take it with you everywhere you go. I gleaned that from this vision. And do not break it!"

I nod at this, and then I bend and take the object. It is an odd orange contraption that looks like one of those weights my grandfather would handle. It seems to have an ethereal glow about it, and it is something that molds perfectly into my hand. I nod at this, and then I store it in a pocket of my armor where I know it should be all right. I don't think I'll stay here with it. I might leave it somewhere in my room with a note so that someone can find it. Maybe that will work. I mean, Benezia is able to handle it, so why is it that one who is not from the Mass Effect universe has to handle it? I'd think it would be fine if someone else could handle it, anyhow. They'd know what to do with it. Me? I'm a fucking music student washed up in some video game. What the fuck can I do?

Well, there's no reason why I shouldn't just trust her word for now...

"I'll guard it well," I say as I feel Benezia begin to lose her battle. "By the way... Liara... She's with us now. So..."

Benezia nods. "Tell her... that... that I..." she says as I suddenly find myself step back. "That I am proud of her."

And then, I'm back in the position I was in before my talk with Benezia. Suddenly, I see movement from Shepard, and that's when I know that we're back in real time. She turns to the group, and her face is a scowl.

"... Die!" she says, her body flaring blue from biotics.

Okay, peace time is over. Her hand waves, and the doors open. All right, now we face the matriarch herself, plus everybody else.

I'm not taking any chances. I'm going for the underlings.

And that's what I do. Shepard, Wrex, and Garrus all go for the Matriarch herself while Ash and I clear out the underlings. The three of them manage to overpower Benezia as we take care of the asari commandos and the geth units, though, and so we know that Benezia is dying. I look back, thinking about her as others flood in. I take down a geth quickly, and then I turn to where Commander Shepard is against her cover.

"Shepard, I'm going to go see about Benezia," I say.

"She's all yours, soldier," she says.

I nod and run out of cover back to where Benezia was. Once there, I see that she has dragged herself so she sits propped against a computer. I quickly rush to her, and she sees me, her face a little more calm.

"I cannot go on," she says. "You will have to go on with your team."

I look down at her, checking my omni tool briefly. "Hang in there," I say, going through my omni tool. "I've got some spare medi-gel. Maybe I could--"

I feel her hand clasp down on my wrist. She shakes her head, and then she slowly pulls it away from my omni tool. "No," she says. "I can still hear Saren's voice. I will never be myself again."

I shake my head at this as I hear the sounds of gunfire cease behind me. "There has to be some way to break the indoctrination, Matriarch," I say. "There--"

"There is no cure for something against a ship with technology far superior to our own," she replies, shaking her head. "Let it be, child."

I would have protested, but we're talking about someone who's a thousand years old here. In her eyes, I'm still an infant. And she's dying, so...

I nod, swallowing a lump in my throat I didn't even realize was there. "All right," I say. "_Requiescat in pace._"

She sits, looking at me blankly as I offer a weak smile of comfort. I hear her mutter something about there being no light, and then her head falls onto her chest.

By this time, Shepard and the rest of the crew are standing over me, and I feel them looking down at the Matriarch. I bite my lower lip softly before I stand up, letting out a sigh as I turn to them.

"Shame," I say. "I wish there was something we could've done..."

Ash shrugs. "Hey, you win some, you lose some," she says.

I shrug simply, making no attempt to hide how I feel about Benezia. Damn, there's just something about experiencing everything in real life. In the game, I didn't really feel much for Benezia. She was only there for a few missions, she died, we saw her conversation with Saren, and... well, there's also the fact that her fight can be kind of disappointing if you bring a team full of biotics. But in real life... something about the whole thing was just much more moving. I guess it's because of the fact that I was the only company she had as she sat there dying and because she gave me... whatever the hell the thing she gave me is supposed to be. And also, because some things are just more damn depressing when you see them happen. I've never really seen a person die up close like that before. And then Benezia came along...

Shepard gives us a nod. "Come on," she says. "I've had enough of this place to last me three lifetimes."

I briefly notice an asari commando laying by the control panel that Benezia operated. I look at the devastation around me, and I feel a chill travel down my spine. Death is all around me... and it's kind of making me think again. I mean--

Wait, she's moving. Holy mother of fuck, she's moving.

Panicking, I point at the rising asari commando, and when the rest of the team turns around to look they look at the commander as she moves around. Shepard raises her weapon, her finger lightly gracing the trigger. When she stumbles around, we all suddenly hear a sound coming from the thing that is holding the Rachni Queen. We see something open in there, and then the commando stands in front of the tank after a bit of shuffling about. When she gets there, her eyes open, her pupils greatly dilated, and she's twitching all over the place.

Oh god. Zombie apocalypse, brought to you especially by a combination of the Rachni Queen and Ed Wood. It was unsettling enough in the game, but seeing it live... Shit... I don't have words to describe how fucking gross I feel...

"This one serves as our voice," says the asari slowly. I can swear I'm hearing it in whispers, too... Huh. "We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless." Okay, this is very high octane nightmare fuel. She's twitching madly... it's so... gross! "Your way of communicating is strange. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all."

"This is going to be a fun conversation," says Wrex. I do a poor attempt to hide a snort at this, and I suddenly feel four pairs of eyes glare at me for maybe a split-second at the least before our attention is turned back to the... possessed zombie asari who's also a vegan by the looks of things.

"We are the mother," says the asari. "We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced."

Shepard walks forward so that he is behind the asari. She looks into the tank where the rachni queen is being held, and gazes at it. I cross my arms as I look at the zombie asari. And... oh God, it's still disgusting...

"We are rachni," she says as Shepard looks into the tank.

"How are you speaking through her?" asks Shepard to the rachni queen.

"Our kind sing through touchings of thought," replies the rachni queen. "We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful."

"Yeah, uh... that tends to be a common trend with zombies, especially possessed ones," I point out.

The rachni queen ignores my comment and continues. "The children we birthed were stolen from us before they could learn to sing," it continues. "They are lost to silence." Here, her words started to seem more pleading to me. "End their suffering. They cannot be saved. They will only cause harm as they are."

Shepard comes back slowly as she turns to the asari. "I don't understand," she says. "Why are your children killing people?"

"These needlemen," replies the queen with a seeming trace of disdain somewhere in her voice. "They stole our eggs from us. They sought to turn our children into beasts of war. Claws with no songs of their own. Our elders are comfortable with silence. Children know only fear if no one sings to them. Fear has shattered their minds."

"That seems to make sense," says Garrus. "A baby left alone in a closet until he's sixteen won't be sane..."

"Especially big ones like those things," I add, shuddering visibly. Okay, really, I should shut up soon.

Shepard seems deep in thought for a few seconds, and then turns to the rachni queen. "If you are sure they can't be saved," she says.

"It is... lamentable," replies the rachni queen. "But necessary. Do what you must."

Bite on the lower lip, bite on the lower lip, bite on the lower lip... for porn!

"Before you deal with our children, we stand before you," says the queen, now becoming a little more imploring. "What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

Oh, boy, that is a heavy question. Condemn it to genocide, or allow it to go free?

Wrex is the first one to speak. "There are acid tanks rigged on that thing," he says. "Set them off. Millions of my ancestors died to put these things down. Don't let them come back."

"I don't trust this thing," adds Ashley from behind me. "We know its kind are killers. I'm with Wrex on this one."

Garrus seems to disagree immediately. "If you kill her, you consign an entire race to death," he says. "We should let the Council decide her fate."

Fuck the Council; they'll just agree with Wrex and Ash. But whatever. I sit there, pondering what I'm going to add to all this.

"Well..." I begin. "It's not really my call to make, but we've consigned entire people to genocide plenty of times in our history. I've found it's always senseless no matter how you try to rationalize it. Let this one time be different, Shepard. Give them another chance."

All right, I think that'll work. It's true, first of all, and second of all it keeps the fact that we might need it all to sae ourselves from the Reapers a secret. And that is always a good thing. I'm getting pretty good at thinking of other ways to get stuff done.

The rachni queen speaks to us again. "Your companions hear the truth," she says. "You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory."

Shepard ponders her position breifly as she comes to stand in front of us again. After a minute or so, she comes with a question. "If I let you live, will you attack other races again?" she asks.

"No, we--" says the queen. Hm, is she uncertain of her wording? "I do not know what happened in the war. We only heard discordance, songs the color of oily shadows. We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return."

Hm, that's a thought. We're left standing there in silence as Shepard ponders her next course of action. Finally, she begins to head over to the control panel, checking the interface to see what she could do.

"I won't destroy your entire race," he says. "You'll go free."

Aha, she saved the rachni! Now I don't feel like my voice is neglected! Yay!

"Are you stupid?" Wrex almost immediately intercuts. "Your people didn't fight these bastards, so maybe you don't get it!"

I shake my head. "We may not get it, but if we kill them off what does that make us?" I ask.

"Exactly," says Shepard. "I don't think we'll be any better if we simply let their entire race die."

Wrex seems put in a bitter mood by this. "Do what you want," he says. "My people will clean up this mess later, just like we did for the salarians."

The zombie asari stands there. "You will give us the chance to compose anew?" she asks. "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."

There is a slight silence before Wrex turns to us. "Great," he says simply. "Bugs are writing songs about you. Mark my words. You'll regret this."

I shrug at this. "I dunno, Wrex," I say. "In my experience, if you get a song written about you it's usually a really good thing."

Ash blinks at this before shaking her head. "You take things too literally."

Indeed I do. "Thanks," I say, smirking playfully. "It's one of my many specialties."

And then Shepard is at the control panel as the rachni queen's head darts around. She presses a few buttons on the interface, and then the tank gets lifted to a higher place. As the zombie asari finally drops dead and stops attempting to gross me out, we hear a door open. And then, the rachni queen disappears from our view slowly. I look at it with a smile on my face.

...

Damn it!

"You know what the worst part of all this is?" I ask.

"Not exactly," says Garrus. "What?"

"It's that there's no fucking incidental music for this!" I say, crossing my arms as I shake my head. "That would have made things so much more awesome!"

I hear Ash groan as Shepard shakes her head. "Maybe if something else happens," she says. "Right now, I'm concentrating on how we just did an entire race good."

"You'll regret this," repeats Wrex in a half-grumble.

"We'll see about that," I reply, crossing my arms. "Who knows? Maybe you won't have to clean up the mess at all. Only time will tell with that, I can tell you that much."

"That works the other way around too," replies Ash.

Garrus gives us all a look. "We'll see how things pan out," he says. "If anything, the Council will have the final word on this matter, so I'm content to wait around."

Shepard shrugs at this as she moves to leave. "Let's go," she says. "I've had enough of this place."

And this time, we leave the maintenance area, the tank empty and with me feeling pretty good about myself. We saved the rachni, so that's one more ally that we have against the Reapers. And since Shepard will likely be leading, that's an ensured alliance.

As we move along the corridors of Peak 15, I can't help but think about the object that Benezia gave me. What is it? Why is it that I can be the only one to handle it? Why must I carry it around at all times? Why was it specifically looking for people not of this universe? I've got a lot of questions about it right now. And I'm pretty sure I'll be out of here by the time some of them get answered.

Oh well. I probably shouldn't worry about it too much. Worrying won't really get me anywhere in this galaxy. I'll think about it if something incredibly odd happens. For now, I'm carrying it on me, but once Virmire comes around I'm leaving it on the Normandy for someone else to find. I mean, if Benezia could recieve visions from it, who is to say that nobody else can? I mean, they aren't matriarchs, so they wouldn't be able to tell what it means alone, but still, they should find it as useful as I do.

So that's what I'll do about that then. All right. It's time to leave this place behind.

It was inhospitable anyway.


	6. Chapter 5

_A/N: And, we've found a wierd paperweight last time. What does it do?_

_Well, unfortunately, I'm gonna tease you with that thing for all it's worth. Because I don't plan on telling you until the third part. (Yeah, this can eventually turn out to be a full trilogy, with a few fun surprises along the way.) Why can only Art handle it? That'll at least be explained before this part of the saga ends. But everything else? Oh, boy, you'll have to wait and see about that. Oh, yes... *laughs evilly*_

_Anyway, damn, I haven't written that much in... how long? I don't remember. So yeah._

_I'll shut up now and give you the chapter. So, enjoy!_

* * *

_"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."_

-George Washington

* * *

Chapter 5: Monty Python's Flying Circus

When I arrived at the Normandy, the first thing I did was to plop down in my room and fall all over my sleeping area. I took in a few breaths, wiping some sweat off of my brow. I am not doing anything for the rest of the day. Guh, that was absolutely exhausting. Walking to Peak 15, dealing with Benezia, and walking all the way back was looooong. I was actually shocked to find out that we had only been in there for four hours. So much shit had gone down I thought it was really twelve. Whatever; the fact is I'm not hitting the gym today. Shower, food, movie, and bed. That's the order of the day.

Good thing I'll get to chill out with a Monty Python movie. That will be quite fun. It's so ridiculous the aliens will find it hilarious, and then all the religious stuff is saved for me and the other humans on board. Unless these guys have other monotheistic religions, that is. We'll have to see how that pans out. I'm quite looking forward to it.

Right now, though... As soon as I take a shower and get into my casual clothes, I need to get that message to Liara. Or... no, I should really seek her out first. She seemed pretty badly off at the debriefing upon hearing the news that her mother was dead. Honestly, I can't blame her; that's a pretty tough thing to bear. So maybe I should tell her something about that. But at what... No, no cost necessary. I did check on her before she died. I could just say I said all that shebang then. So... Yeah, I think I'll do good by that. Maybe? No... I can wait. But then I procrastinate... Shit, I'll just get it out of the way once I take my shower.

Speaking of which... I take out that small orange paperweight and investigate it. Hm... Looks like it's more than just a paperweight. I'll bet it's like that pen in _Percy Jackson _that turns into a sword when you click it. But why would you need swords in the Mass Effect universe? Unless it can kill the Reapers? No, that's silly; entire fleets of gunships won't be able to take Sovereign down when he shows up, what's one little blade that's just the length of my legs going to do? Although, thinking on that... I'm pretty sure Kratos from the _God of War _series would win in a fight with a Reaper. But that's just me.

So... what is this object? And why is it that Benezia said only I could have it?

Nah, I'll neglect Benezia. I still want to go home. I think I can just leave it in here with a note telling the person who finds it to look after it. Or something like that. Either way, I'm sure it won't come back to bite me in the ass later.

Yeah, I'm gonna still let myself get blown up on Virmire. So we'll have to see how that goes.

In the meantime... I stash it away in my casual clothes in the same pocket that I keep my apartment keys in. I pick up a few more objects, including a towel, take care of removing my armor carefully, and then I head to the Normandy's showers so I can take a nice, hot bath after all that fucking cold...

* * *

Well, I'm back in my shirt and pants. I'm pretty hungry, so I head over to the mess hall and pick up something to eat. Steak sounds good right about now, but that means I'll fall into bad habits again. And besides, it's probably not very good, so...

When I come out with my food, I see Liara sitting alone somewhere. Oh. Well, that takes care of itself. I should sit with her and talk about Benezia. Just to see what she was like when she wasn't a victim of Sovereign's indoctrination. Still, I can't seem to stop the shaking...

Ah, well. I take a seat next to Liara and look at her.

"Hey, Liara," I say. "You holding up all right?"

The asari sits in silence for a second before she swallows and nods. "I... I am not sure," she tells me. "I understand why my mother did what she did, but... This... grief... is new for one such as myself."

"You're 106," I point out. "I know I would've seen a lot of things by that point."

"It is different for a species with my longevity," replies Liara. "How, I should not have to tell you, I hope."

"You don't," I reply, shaking my head. "I can't say I blame this reaction, though; you weren't even there when she died..." Here, I turn to face her, a soft expression on my face. "This is more about the distance you two had before she died, isn't it?"

"It is," says Liara, looking down at her food sadly. "My mother and I were both distant towards the end. I wish I could have been there, if only to hear her say something about me. Anything at all."

I nod, crossing my hands together. "I see..." I say. "You know, I was the only company she had in the final moments of her life. And... I told her that you were safe. With us, I mean."

Liara finally looks at me, hope gleaming in her eyes. "Did... did she say anything about me?" she asks.

Aha, there we go! "As a matter of fact, she did," I say, smiling. "She told me to tell you that she was proud of you. Not much given that she was dying, but I suppose it's better than nothing..."

The gleam in the asari's eyes seems to get slightly more intense, and I see a tear fall down her face. She nods, and a sad smile graces her features as she looks down at her food. "Thank you, Art," she says. "For telling me this. It... it puts my mind at peace."

I nod at this, knowing she has a point. I look at her again with a sad smile now gracing my own face. "You're welcome. Tell me about your mother," I say. "What was she like before the indoctrination?"

Liara nods. "She... she was a kind mother," says Liara. "Always calm, always serene, never too strict... Of course, she was strict when she absolutely had to be but... I know she was a good mother. She cared for me very much, and it was obvious that she did even through some of the punishments I would get as a mere infant... I... It pains me to think of her death under such circumstances. I cannot imagine her as anything other than the kind woman she was before this happened... And yet..."

I nod, swallowing a lump in my throat as I lay a reassuring hand on her shoulder. I dare not say anything, because usually saying something only makes things worse. I simply nod to her. You know what they say: actions speak much louder than words. And at least in this case, actions are speaking quite loudly about stuff.

"If you need someone to talk to, I think you'll find plenty of ears on the Normandy that are willing to listen," I say, giving her an understanding look. "Just, don't hesitate to ask."

Huh, how ironic. I'm telling her she can trust me and the crew with stuff... And here I can't even do that. It's a little ironic, I think. But eh, what can I do when the only explanation I can give them makes me look like a madman?

She nods. "Thank you," she says simply, giving me a sincere smile.

"Any time," I say cheerfully.

And with this, I turn my attention to my... okay, my food doesn't look too great. Ah, well, it's what I'm stuck with. Might as well.

I bring a fork up and part a piece of stuff, working to get the food into my mouth as Liara stares down at her food before finally moving to take a bite out of it.

* * *

Later that night, I'm the first guy in the rec room. Wow, this equipment is... complicated. It's even worse than the Netflix streaming disc for my PS3 that I could never seem to get working. Here, I just don't know what the hell I'm doing. Figures; I should've seen this shit coming. Ah, well, I'll just roll with the punches.

Shepard finds me there, and as I tried to figure it out, I noticed her enter. Oh, hey, maybe she can help.

"Hello, Art," she says.

"Hi Shepard," I say, clenching my fist again as I attempted to figure it out. "A little help here please?"

The commander walks over and I point to the menu on my omni tool. She looks at it briefly before tapping another command on the omni tool and navigating through a menu there. My eyes widen at this, and I nod.

"Oh!" I say. Damn it, I want to slap myself for that. "God, I'm such an idiot!"

"Not with the way you handled the situation today," replies Shepard. "You did good out there, Serviceman."

"Uh... thanks," I say. "I guess it's hard for most people to come out of an attack by an asari commando alive?"

"Possibly," she says. "You also did pretty well for this being your first time on the field of battle."

I glance to the side as we finally get the thing loaded onto the vid player. "Really?" I ask. "I don't know, I don't feel too good about it all. I mean, I rarely got as many things as you did, so..."

Shepard shakes her head at this. "You did your part well," she replies. "That's all that matters."

"I guess..." I say with a shrug. "Again, I'm a musician, not a soldier. I don't like to brag about stuff that isn't actually in my area of expertise."

"And yet I'm guessing you dabbled in a lot of things before getting stranded on the Citadel?" asks Shepard.

I nod. Oh, if only she had an idea. "Oh, boy," I say. "I was into a _lot_ of other stuff besides music. I'm a bit of a pop culture nut. Especially when it comes to gaming and movies. Of course, I'm into really old things, but still..."

Shepard nods at this, shrugging. "I see," she says.

"But music was always the one thing that could keep my attention really, really well," I say, looking wistfully at the ceiling. "That's why I went into music. And I also really love creating it. I guess what Benezia said there is true in a way. The power to create is... something that even people that create can't really understand. It makes me think a lot. Why the creative instinct? I don't really think it matters, though..."

At this, Shepard chuckles, and she pats me on the shoulder. "You like to think, I see," she says.

I shrug. "Yeah," I say. "My thoughts just wonder whenever I'm alone with nothing to do. It's interesting to see where my train of thought will be..."

Shepard gives me a soft smile as she stands up. "You remind me of my brother," she says.

Wait, what? Oh, this is new. Shepard has a brother, huh? "You've got a brother?" I ask.

"You both tend to think a lot," she replies. "And you're both into that kind of thing. I'd be willing to bet you two would get along quite well."

Uh, no. I shake my head to mirror my emotion. "It depends on how well your brother is with handling wild people," I reply.

"He handles anybody well," she says. "It seems to be a common trait amongst our family. It's a good thing he's going into N7 training soon; people could use a man like him..."

I raise my eyebrow. I'm guessing this is a Spacer Shepard, then. Fun times for sure. "I see," I say. "I'll bet he's just as good a leader as you turned out to be."

Shepard shakes her head, smiling. "That's what I keep telling him," she replies. "He's never too sure of himself, though."

"Well, who is when they start out?" I point out. "I didn't think I could make it past an asari commando, yet I survived against an entire unit of them."

"That's what I tell him," she replies. "But... he doesn't have that confidence. Not yet. I guess that's why I'm his older sister..."

Huh, older sister. Pretty fun. It reminds me of myself, actually, what with having two siblings and all. Being the middle child is never fun, but for some reason I think I got pretty lucky like that. Yeah, and it's funny because I've also got an older sister. I can see a bunch of similarities between myself and Shepard already.

"What's his name?" I ask.

"Albert," she replies. "Everyone calls him Al for short though. They don't even bother saying Shepard."

Hm... Albert Shepard. That certainly has a ring to it. A very nice ring to it. I'll still call him Al, though, 'cause it's just easier. Also, because it reminds me of home. RoyalFanatic... I wonder how she's doing with the Shooting Star saga. I wonder if she's finished it and moved on to Follower's Rise... And if she's finally gotten that fucking oblivious to love bit settled between Al and Meru. I swear to God...

Whatever. It's still interesting to find ought I might be working with both a female and a male Shepard. I wonder who the M/Shepard will fall in love with over the course of our adventures. I hope it's with Jack: the crazy bitch could use a source of stability in her life, and where better to get it from than the Shepard family?

I nod at this, smiling. "You know, I had... have... had a brother too," I say. "I don't know what to say, given that I'm not exactly in a position to see him anymore."

Shepard raises an eyebrow. "You do?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say. "The little guy is about the most adorable fucking thing in the entire galaxy. He's younger than I am, so I guess that lends itself something. He's just so innocent it's enlightening sometimes and painful others. He's... young." If you know what I mean.

Shepard nods, seeing my point. "In that case, I hope he's doing well for himself," she says. "Especially with you not being around."

Eh, I was kind of already far apart from him. "I'm sure he'll be fine," I say. "He's got plenty of relatives looking out for him. Plus, he knows a lot more than what people give him credit for. His name is Augie, if you're wondering."

She nods. "Very well," she says.

The conversation continues to meander, but I can't help but think about Albert Shepard and how he'll affect things in the future. There was a definite change: even Spacer Shepard didn't have a brother. But since the Earthborn Shepard separates herself from her siblings and the Colonist Shepard ensures that any siblings she has dies, then that's the only origin left. Spacer Shepard. Makes me wonder when the Normandy is going to meet the family. Now all that's left is to wonder if she's a Survivor, a War Hero, or Ruthless. I doubt it's Ruthless, of course, so yeah.

But all this is on the back of my mind as we talk about various things, and slowly people show up to the vid night.

* * *

_"The first son of Deuteronomy of Geth!"_

_"Do I say yes?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Yes."_

Ah, the stoning sketch. One of my favorite sketches from this movie. John Cleese looks ridiculous in that outfit, but hey, what can you do? I'm sitting right between Tali and Garrus. Ash is seated on the couch, and Kaidan and Shepard are sitting together. Hm... her hands are unusually close to him... Wonder what that means...

Wrex and Liara aren't here for some reason. Guess I can't fault them for that, though. Liara was mostly just a bit nervous, and Wrex is... well, Wrex.

The exchange elicits a chuckle out of myself as we sit down and watch the sketch.

_"You have been found guilty by the elders of the town, of uttering the name of our Lord, and so as a _blasphemer!_" _A gasp from the crowd. _"You are to be stoned to death!"_

Yeah, I had explained stoning to some of them before. They were mostly okay about that, I guess. Except for Ash. Good to know she's not that crazily religious. But the first cut to the crowd is made, and eyebrows are raised at this.

_"Look, I had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was 'this piece of halibut is good enough for Jehova!'" _A cry of derision comes from the crowd. _"Blasphemy! He said it again!" _The crowd goes wild. _"Did you hear him?" _The crowd goes wild again, but then one person shouts too loudly in a high pitched voice.

Most of the people there laugh at this. I hear a small little something Tali as she holds a hand over her facemask.

_"Are there any women here today?"_ The heads of the crowd shake at this question. _"Very well."_ This gets a few more chuckles as he goes on. _"By virtue of the authority, vested in me-!" _But someone already throws the stone on him. _"Owwww, lay off, we 'aven't started yet!" "Come on, who threw that?" _Some hesitance from the crowd. _"Who threw that stone? Come on!_" And the whole crowd points at Eric Idle in... err... reverse drag? But their voices get deeper as they shout.

This manages to get more laughs out of the crew.

_"Sorry, I thought we started."_ Now that gets more laughs out of us as Idle does the same thing. And the priest is obviously too stupid to do stuff, so... _"Go to the back."_ This gets laugh as Idle does just that. _"Always one, isn't there? Now, where were we?"_

_"Look, I don't think it ought to be blasphemy! Just saying Jehova!"_ And then they go screaming at him, and we get some more laughs out of this, and I start to crack up quite a bit. Everyone else is starting to get into it, I think.

_"You're only making it worse for yourself!" "Making it worse? How could it _be _worse? Jehova! Jehova! Jehova!" _The dance. And the screams. Yeah, it's all adding up to a picture that's making all of us start laughing a little harder. I don't hear anything from Ash, but Tali looks like she's about to hit the floor laughing. _"I'm warning you! If you say Jehova once more-!"_ And he gets hit in the head with a stone. This elicits chuckles from all around.

_"Right! Who threw that?" _Silence, and there's Micheal Palin again. _"Come on! Who threw that?_" And then the whole gag with the "she did!" and everyone's starting to really get into it now. _"Was it you?" "Yes." "Right!" "Well you did say Jehova." _And then they all start throwing stones. Tali looks about ready to fall on the floor laughing, and Garrus seems to have an odd glint in his eye as the rest of the crew start leaning forward.

_"Stop it!" _Oh, boy, John Cleese throws a tantrum. Now the funniest part of the sketch comes up. _"Now look! No one is to stone any one until I blow this whistle! Do you understand? Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear! Even, if they _do _say Jehova!"_

And then the stones start flying again. And as he gets crushed under a giant stone, we're all laughing. Hey, we're all laughing!

I think we've found some common ground! Yeah, I knew these vid nights were a good idea! And it was a good idea to start with _Life of Brian_, too, as that seems to be pretty accessible if only because it's so hilariously silly in its own cynicism.

That becomes apparent throughout the rest of the movie. Something in there always gets us to laugh consistently. And by the end of it, Tali is more or less almost rolling on the floor laughing as everybody else is still trying to contain how amused I am. I look around with a smile on my face, laughing at all my favorite parts and looking around to see that yes, we were all laughing at the same general thing.

* * *

After the first vid night, I went straight to bed. I don't remember ever having as good a sleep as I did then. I'm not an especially good sleeper, since I always hit a crash in the middle of the day. That got annoying when it affected me in LibArts and my Chamber classes on certain days of the week. I just can't seem to resist the temptation to put my head down. And then I miss stuff, which is quite stupid of me to do. Anyway, what do I say about this life? I look at the... Okay, I always get up early, no matter what. Jeez...

Ah, whatever. I get up and get my clothes on. Always a pleasure doing stuff aroud here. I leave, and head out for breakfast.

When I go to breakfast, I find that Tali's the only other one there. Huh. This will be interesting. I pick up some food and sit by her.

"Hey, Tali," I say. "I take it you're an early riser too?"

"A little, yes," she replies. "How are you?"

"Feeling rested," I reply with a smile. "I can't say I was sleeping too well before I got on the Normandy. Yourself?"

"I'm all right," she says as I take a bite out of some of these eggs. Hm... not bad. "I have to say, that was a very funny vid we saw last night."

I smile at this, nodding as I swallow my food. "Thanks," I say. "Monty Python is always good for laughs. A lot of their humor is extremely surreal like that."

"I can tell," she says. "Is that the only thing they did?"

I shake my head. "No," I reply. "There are two other movies they made, and a TV show that they made before those. Both forms are really funny."

"Really?" she asks. "Tell me about one thing from either of them."

Hm... Where to begin. Well, there's the meat shop... no, that just compounds the absurdism of everything that was already seen in Life of Brian. Maybe talk about Terry Gilliam's odd animations? No, those aren't too lengthy... Parrot Shop? Nah, that's also absurdist. So what...

Aha! Got it!

"Well, there's this one sketch from the TV show that sort of comes out of nowhere," I say. "It's a sketch where two of the guys are standing by a river doing a silly dance."

"Silly dance?" she asks. "What kind of silly dance?"

"Well, it's a dance where one of them walks up to the other..." I snort here. God, I suck at talking about jokes, because I crack up every time I do. "And then the other one gets slapped with a tiny fish."

Tali snorts as well, and then she nearly hits her head mask against the table. "I see," she says. "So it's just that over and over again?"

I shake my head. "No, actually," I say. "The sketch is only fifteen seconds long. What cuts it off so short is... well, you know how when there's a dance form that the partner typically repeats the steps, right?"

"Not really," she replies. "But what about that?"

"Well, instead of repeating the slapper's steps..." I say, struggling to hold my laughter in. "The other guy pulls out this giant fish, and slaps the other guy into the water."

This gets Tali to start laughing. Our food is forgotten for a moment as I smile, the recollection being enough to brighten my day already. She calms down, and looks at me as I return back to eating my food.

"That's quite... unusual," she says. "But still, it sounds pretty funny."

"Possibly because it is," I reply. "Some people say it shows everything that makes Monty Python so funny in the first place."

Tali simply smiles as she regards us. "Unfortunately... we don't have anything like that," she says. "Being in ships for 300 years can do that to a species..."

"Indeed," I say, going quiet.

Actually, thinking about it now... The quarians have been exiled since around the time of the American Civil War. Shit... It feels so surreal to know that we were still fighting with muskets and stuff when the first AI had already been developed. Shit, the Catholic church really did set us back in the Middle Ages. That... is a bit disturbing to think about it. If we had done that... We might have made contact with the turians sooner. Maybe avoided this whole mess with the Second Contact War. Who knows? Then again, it would be a bit disconcerting to think about how we made our first space travel in 1642 or something like that, so. Well, not really... I guess I would be used to it if that had actually happened. But still, I feel pretty disconcerted about all this. Man... And around the time that the quarians were exiled, Wagner was dying, the Victrian era was in full force... Shit. I'm thinking too hard into this. We humans really fell behind. Thanks for nothing, Saint Augustine.

"Something on your mind?" she asks.

Okay, that kind of came from nowhere. But I was distracted, so it was warranted. "Oh yeah," I reply. "I always have something on my mind. Usually it's trivial, though. Like, I was just thinking about how we had only just invented our first real rapid-fire weaponry when you were exiled from Rannoch."

Tali gives me an odd gesture. "Really?" she asks. "I didn't know that."

I shrug at this. "Not a lot of people do, but hey," I say. "It's odd thoughts like that which make me operate."

I take another bite out of these eggs as Tali nods silently in agreement. "I see," she says. "What's the point of thinking so much?"

"I don't know, and I don't care," I say. "It's interesting what thoughts will do to a person, you know? I just like to think a lot. And sometimes, my thoughts don't always make a whole lot of sense. But then, there's a kind of beauty in that. Sometimes, when I'm bored and have nothing else to do, I just think. It's interesting where my train of thought will go when I think."

Tali nods at this. "Sounds interesting," she says. "Do you always tell people what's on your mind when you do this thinking?"

I shake my head at this. "Rarely," I reply. "It's one of those things I do for myself. And I never really tell people about what happens when I think, so..."

"Interesting," she says.

I chew on some eggs and gesture at her. "So, tell me a bit about yourself," I say.

"Anything?" she asks, her hands splaying on the table in front of us.

"Of course, anything," I reply with a smile. "Like, how did you start your Pilgrimage? What's your family like? Something like that."

She nods, and she takes a deep breath. "Well..." she says. "I can't exactly say why, since you know why, but I can tell you what was happening when I left..."

And then she tells me what was happening around her when she left for her pilgrimage. It's a pretty fascinating story, actually. Apparently, a lot can go on in the fleet at the same time. And then there's her father, who she seems to talk about with so much respect that it's painful. And... I'm getting flashbacks to my own father. We were never really on the best of terms, but he did his best. But still, his best wasn't enough, as I lived in constant fear of him. I had to be careful what I said to him, because he was a stubborn son of a bitch if there ever was one. And if you tried suggesting something different, then yeah. I remember that his ideas quite possibly could have gotten me and my mother killed once when I moved into my dorm in college when some guy told us he would drive us there for free. Uh, yeah, that sounds like a perfect proposition, except that, you now, it's free!

And he gets pissy if you argue with him enough, to the point that he starts yelling at you. I really didn't like him. He did stuff for me, sure, but I lived in constant fear of him. I wish I could say something nice about him the way Tali is talking about Rael'Zorah. The way she talks about him, I actually feel sorry for him. True, he'll do some very... er... inhumane experiments on the geth, but he seems like an intuitively good man who wants the best for her daughter. In a way, it reminds me of my own dad; he did stuff for me, but he's just misguided on a few things. I wonder if I'll ever get to meet Tali's father before he dies...

Probably not. But still, one can dream.

And so, I sit there, listening to Tali's story as we slowly eat away at our breakfast, the rest of the crew piling in slowly.

* * *

I bumped into Wrex while wondering around the Normandy after my jog on the treadmill that morning. He was at his usual spot again, and still friendly as ever after the incident on Noveria. He's a bit grumpy, and he seems to like checking his weapons then more than usual.

"Hey Wrex," I say as I approach.

"Serviceman," he greets. "I don't think I missed much."

"Actually, you kind of did," I reply. "You missed a lot of stupid people killing themselves at a cross where some dude was standing about ready to die."

The krogan simply looks at me. If he's confused, he doesn't show it. "What's the point of nailing them to a cross?" he asked then. "I'd just shoot them."

I shrug, beginning to gesture with my hand. "Well, crucifixion was a common punishment back in those days," I mention. "Your hands and feet get nailed to wood, and they leave you out for everyone to see. And usually, you had to commit some kind of crime first, you know? Apparently it was a really painful way to die, and everyone saw you dying."

"I'll bet most of them just laughed," replied the krogan.

"Not really," I reply. "They just cowered in fear and went on being good citizens."

The krogan huffs. "That's no fun," he said.

"I don't think the Romans were _aiming _for it to be fun..." I reply, glancing to the side. "I'm surprised they didn't get more people who were too dumb to live, though. They probably would've done the universe a favor if they had gotten more of those people."

He nods in agreement. "That they do," he says. "Lots of people these days are pretty stupid."

I shake my head. "Doesn't hold a candle to some things, though," I say. "Let's face it. People have always been fucking idiots at one point or another. Especially if they're religious zealots. Believe it or not, people do actually get so caught up in their religions they actually _don't_ know their own religion that well."

"Really?" asks Wrex. "This will be interesting."

Yes, it will be. "Way back in the history of my country, there was this church in some place out in the middle called the Westboro Baptist Church," I say. "Anyway, they were a bunch of zealots who went around parading with signs in places they had no jurisdiction in. And what they were picketing? The acceptance of homosexuality, and why it's wrong."

The krogan seems to be interested. "Really?" he asks. "That's disturbing... I hope they don't exist anymore, because that would be a favor to all of us."

Wait... "...So you're not disturbed by the whole homosexuality bit?" I ask.

"No," replies the krogan. "Especially not since it's apparent these people are remembered for being too stupid to live."

"Right," I say, scratching my neck. "Anyway, back to the topic at hand. These guys quoted a passage of Deuteronomy of the Christian Bible that said that a man shall not lay with another man. Or something like that. They took that to mean that they were all going to hell."

Wrex blinks. "That's... not good," he says.

"And that's the thing," I add. "In proper Christian doctorine, many people agree that all sins are forgiven by God. Homosexuality is considered a sin, but it's still forgiven if you repent stuff."

"And yet those idiots went right over that," says Wrex.

"Exactly!" I point out. "After a point, nobody really took them seriously anymore. They were even barred entrance into another country for that reason. And I'm telling you, those guys were real nutcases. The universe was done a favor when 'Pastor'" -and there I used air quotes -"Fred Phelps died all those years back."

At this, he pauses, looking at me. "Wait, so let me get this straight," he says. "One man convinced a whole group of people to protest. Did it do anything?"

Well, from what I've seen on the extranet on homosexual marriage in America... "I'm pretty sure it didn't," I say. "But then, all they did was parade around with signs, so..."

I'm not given any warning before Wrex bursts out laughing. I jump back hearing the sound, looking at Wrex. Wait, why's he laughing? What's so funny? He continues to laugh, and... Well, I'm almost afraid his second pair of lungs isn't going to kick in.

Finally, he calms down enough, and upon seeing my confused expression, he nods. "He's a weakling," he replied. "He wouldn't survive two seconds on Tuchanka."

I blink at this, looking over to the krogan. "Why's that?" I ask.

"He should've just charged into the idiots," he says, smiling softly. "He's weak. Trying to change the world with signs that nobody else was carrying! What was he hoping to do?"

I glance to the side. Right... "I mean, the thing is they didn't even have residency where they campaigned," I reply. "As for why they didn't charge into them... Well, if you charged every homosexual at the time, you'd get arrested for assault and battery. And that would mean that you'd be taken even... _less... _seriously..."

I trail off at this, glancing down at the ground. Wait... Somehow, that makes sense. "You know what?" I ask, giving him a goofy smile. "You're right. _That's_ what they should've done. We would've gotten rid of them sooner that way!"

"And those are a few less weaklings we'd have to deal with," he says. "But still... trying to change the world with signs..." He chuckles at this. "What did they do with them, hit the homosexuals with the signs?"

Oh god. Hit them with the signs. That's actually a really amusing image, now that I think about it. Imagine, innocent churchgoers whacking homosexuals with signs. It would've made that part from _Bruno_ so much more funny if they started that. And then... Oh...

To that end, I snort, and now Wrex gives me a rather confused look. I'm unable to do much more before I start laughing very softly. He tilts his head over to the side, but I only laugh for a few seconds before I find myself feeling strange. I try my best, and eventually I calm down enough to look at him with a more or less straight face. My smile is still incredibly goofy, though. Ah, well, not much I can do about that.

"As amusing as that image is, no," I reply. "They just sort of stood there, holding their signs."

And now it's his turn to laugh at it. I find myself realizing the absurdity of it all. If they really couldn't change anything... What does that say about those people? Yeah, Fred Phelps is a weakling after all. I bet he's hiding something too, now that I think about it.

"Oh, this Phelps person was a weakling," said Wrex. "It's a good thing he's dead; being killed in battle wouldn't dignify his life."

I snort at this, shaking my head. "Yeah, that it would not," I reply. "I'll see you around, Wrex."

"Hey, if you know any more people like that, let me know," says the krogan. "It's a good laugh for me."

And with this, I nod. I then leave the krogan to his devices, and I begin to mull on the absurdity of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.

* * *

All right, so we're heading to the Citadel. We'll be docking off in a bit, and I'll be staying on with Ash. We'll be getting in some shotgun training since I did some very good work on Noveria. I'm not feeling to confident about wielding a shotgun, but I did get used to holding other weapons. So we'll see. I'm pretty sure I'll get on her nerves yet again.

But then again, she does kind of get on mine. I often wonder what the point of quoting romantic American poets in some conversations is. I swear, I've heard more Whitman out of her mouth than from anybody else, even when I was studying him in high school and when I read _Leaves of Grass_ for my conservatory's lib-arts class... It's almost improbable, but hey.

I wonder when Shepard's going to get back from taking care of matters in the Citadel. And it also makes me think of something else. You know, for all this talk of "we need to move fast", there's some kind of sense of liesure. I mean, if Shepard can take on all those side-quests while still managing to stop Saren, it makes me wonder. It could certainly explain why nobody showed up when Dr. Michel died, especially if Shepard was just running behind or something. But still, I can't shake the feeling that my presence made it so. But eh, what can I do about it now, right?

I still wonder what the hell this mystical paperweight I have is. I suppose I'll find out in due time. But if I don't find out about it before Virmire... well, it's no big deal I'm sure. Right?

Whatever. I'm just looking forward to shotgun training right now. Let's hope that goes well.


	7. Chapter 6

_A/N: So, more interactions with the crew. And the movie nights are a success. Things are all fun and games with that._

_And we get some more character development. How far will it go? You'll have to see. For now... let's get some training._

_And it will be filled with PAAAAAAIN!_

_Oh, and as a small little reminder... I should've made this clear earlier, but I love feedback. So any that you might have to give is perfectly all right. Unless you flame it, in which case I'll roast marshmallows with your words._

_And another note: if you haven't played _Heavy Rain_, beware, because this chapter will contain **heavy** spoilers for that game. Like, I mean heavy. You have been warned._

* * *

_"I have a shotgun!"_

-Chris Redfield

* * *

Chapter 6: Growing Pains

All right, it's time for shotgun training. This will be fun. I think? It's a shotgun! It's going to be pretty sweet, I should think. If it was anything like pistol or assault rifle training, that is. But I'm sure it will be.

Now all I need to hope for is that hoardes of the undead come running right at me and it'll be insanely awesome! Or not, since I'd probably be the weak guy, so yeah... Still, it'll be nice to see what goes down with shotgun training.

So I meet Ash in the cargo hold again. This time, she doesn't pull any tricks on me, instead opting to go with just standing in the center as I walked in, adorned in my armor yet again. She nods, and I see she holds a shotgun in her hands. She's not wearing her armor, I guess because I'm just training without actually firing at her. Huh, I guess aiming a shotgun isn't too hard after all. I smile and nod.

"Hey, Ash," I reply. "That the model I'm gonna be holding?"

"Yes," she says. "It's a bit tough to use, but you did good on Noveria, so..."

Oh, more of this? "My God, is everyone saying that just to cheer me up?" I ask. "Sure, I faced an asari commando and a unit of geth. But I almost died! And I probably would have if I didn't have Garrus with me!"

"Well, not many rookies face an asari commando and survive," replies Ash with a shrug. "So I guess you should feel pretty good about yourself."

"Well... I guess..." I say, shrugging. I still don't feel totally self-confident. "Ah, well. I guess we should get this whole shotgun business out of the way."

Ash nodded, holding the gun out to me. "We should," she said. "We've got all day, but I've got a feeling we'll be here for a long time."

I nod. I don't take that as a good sign. Maybe it's because I'm a bit thin for a shotgun. Or maybe it's because I'm a violist and my arms are too valuable to just risk like that. Either way... shit, Ash, any confidence I had about this just went flying out the window. Ah, well. It's a shotgun. It's awesome.

I take the gun in my hands, and... wow, it's actually surprisingly lighter than I think it is. I give the surroundings a quick look around, and smile perkily when I look around.

"You know, this would be better if we were in a zombie movie," I said cheerfully. "Those things are never complete without at least one guy swinging a shotgun around the place shooting the dead. That's really the one thing that would make this better."

Ash's mouth turns into a kind of smirk that wants to hold itself down but can't despite her best efforts. "Yeah, that would be pretty... cool," she admits. "I think we're getting off topic, though."

I nod, looking around at the crates as I see that she's left a target on some of them. I look at it. Man, these things are caricatures of fat people, I swear. I mean, why is it that the circles always radiate out from the belly? It's like an invisible fat person? With all the body fat being invisible? Or is it just a blob of mass? I don't know. I hope he can tell the difference between a spoon and a ladle, at least...

Right. "So, what do we do with this?" I ask. "Recoil training?"

"Recoil training," says Ash. "I think aiming shouldn't be too hard given the ammunition."

"True enough," I replied, nodding. I walk in front of the target.

All right, this is going to be pretty sweet. I'm holding a shotgun. It's loaded. And I'm going to shoot it. I can almost imagine the _Also sprach Zarathustra_ quotation rising above me as I take aim. All right, bum buuuuuuuum... Timpani strikes, orchestra rises up, and then...

I hear Ash stepping towards me. Well, it's the C Major chord, so, here we go.

I fire the shotgun.

And I was not prepared for the recoil, which sent my arm flying back behind me. I hit something soft behind me, and the impact causes me to stumble forward a little bit. Wait, I hit something soft...

Oh, shit!

I turn around to see Ash on the ground behind me, clutching her stomach and groaning in pain. She's slowly attempting to get on her hands and knees as she clutches her stomach, her breathing shallow.

"Oh shit!" I shout out. I then rush to her side, placing my hands on her shoulders. She waves them off, not very happy at the moment. "Shit, Ash!"

She moves to reply, but she then vomits right in front of me.

...

Shit, did I do _that_?

"Ah, crap..." I mutter, shaking my head. "Ash, I'm so sorry! If I hadn't-" I shake my head, bringing watching as she manages to breathe in a little easier. "Ah, shit." As she sits up, I kneel under her, slinging her arm over my shoulders as she groans. "I'm taking you to Dr. Chakwas. Shit, I..."

I shake my head, moving towards where the elevator is probably going to be.

Shit, I owe her _big _time after this...

* * *

"And that should be all. I have to admit, this is one of the stranger injuries I've ever come across in my time with the Alliance."

"I'll bet. It's not every day someone else injures someone this badly because of shotgun recoil."

"Right..."

Ash and I went over to Chakwas. I was expecting Chakwas to be pissed, but surprisingly when I explained it to her she was far more perplexed than anything else. I guess this is a rather strange injury. Yeah, yeah it is. No question about that. So she treated to Ash's stomach pains, and cleaned the vomit off of my armor. We sit in the medbay, giving her a few seconds to rest before going back down to the cargo hold.

"I guess I got the recoil direction wrong?" I asked.

"_Very _wrong," replied Ash in a sour mood. "If you had just waited for me to instruct you, this wouldn't have happened."

Oh, dear... "I know..." I say, looking down at the ground. "I was just distracted. That's all. I know, I know, but I was wielding a friggin' shotgun!"

Chakwas was quick to reprimand me. "That does not exactly mean that you can be distracted," replied the doctor. "I would feel sorry for whatever gets shot by a shotgun..."

"So would I, but hey," I say with a hand gesture. "I do have to admit, that was an unexpected side effect of the recoil. Twenty years from now we're all going to be looking back on this day and laughing our asses off."

Ash shrugs. "I guess I will," she says. "I mean... how much more awkward could things get?"

Oh, dear. You have no idea Ash. "Uh... remind me to tell you of that time I killed a fly with a jury portfolio in front of my colleagues in a composition class," I replied. Yeah, overkill is fun. Especially on a carpet floor. I swear, my friends at the conservatory never let it lie. Looking back, I wouldn't either, as it was just so awkwardly funny it was ridiculous.

Chakwas rose an eyebrow at this. "It's a story worth talking about?" she asks.

"Oh, boy," I reply. All right, here we go. "See, I have this gift of making things extremely awkward for various people. I remember that I had to turn in everything I had written over the course of the semester during a composition class we were all required to take. Well, there was this fly flying around the place. Big, big one. And then it landed on a desk that I was sitting close to. I called attention to myself, and killed it with my pieces."

Ash shrugs at this. "That must have gotten a few leery stares."

I snort, shaking my head. Oh, boy. "Not by a long shot," I reply. "Because then I ushered its not-quite-dead body onto a carpet floor and stomped on it at least eight times."

This got a chuckle out of the Gunnery Chief. "Really?" she asked. "I'll bet you were making a big deal about it."

I gave her a glance, crossing my arms as I look at her. "Ash, I grew up in a subtropical area," I reply. "Of _course _I was making a big deal out of it! Flies are the most annoying fuckers in the universe!"

At this, both Ash and Chakwas were showing signs of bemusement. "Yes, you were definitely making things awkward then," replies Ash. "I hope things don't happen that way throughout shotgun training today."

"So do I," I reply, rubbing my arms softly. "After this, I'm not sure how it could get any worse, though..."

"We'll see," says Ash, turning to Chakwas. "Sorry for the trouble, doctor."

"It's part of my job, isn't it?" asks the doctor with a soft smile. "If anything else happens... don't hesitate to come up."

"We'll keep it in mind," says Ash. "Now, back to the cargo bay."

I nod and get off the berth I was sitting on. I follow Ash out of the med bay and into the cargo bay, cracking my knuckles as I wait for another opportunity to use my shotgun. Or... Hang on...

"I'm not in big trouble with the whole stopping Saren bit, am I?" I ask.

Ash shakes her head. "Shepard doesn't need to know," she says. "I may not like that you got distracted like that, but it wasn't exactly in your control."

"I see..." I say. "I... I'm sorry about what happened down there, Ash. It was stupid what I did, and... I'll try not to accidentally injure you throughout the rest of the day."

She nods, smiling. "That would be appreciated," she says.

I look away nervously, but before I can start feeling guilty for myself I feel a hand place itself maternally on my shoulder. I turn to Ash, and then see that she isn't really that angry. Hm... That's... Okay, so everything is good.

All right, I think we'll be in good hands with that. Just remember not to injure her and you should be fine...

* * *

When we get downstairs again, I can't help but look at the target. I find that even if the recoil did... horrible things to Ash, I still hit my target. Well, at least the shot wasn't completely full of fail. But that's not good enough.

"Right," I say. "So, anyway, before we got interrupted by that incredibly epic fail..."

"Yes," says Ash with a nod. "I was about to correct your stance on the shotgun to fix the recoil. You're actually lucky that I was there. If I hadn't been there, you probably would have been knocked to the ground."

I nod. "Okay," I say. "So how do I deal with the recoil?"

"Well, there's the wrong way, which you did earlier," she said. "And then, there's the right way. And that means you have to let the barrel of the shotgun rise so that it goes up instead of behind you."

Hm... "So I sort of let the gun swivel around instead of letting it fly straight back," I say. "Is that right?"

"That it is," she replies, smiling and patting my shoulder. "Just take care it doesn't hit you."

I blink, shaking my head and positioning my shotgun. "Knowing the fail that just happened, I would bet my money on it happening," I say.

Right. With that out of the way, let's see if I can fire the shotgun right this time. So I cock the shotgun, and this time I do not let the fanfare get in my head. And now Ash comes up behind me and fixes my arms slightly. Okay, now I feel like a ten foot tall smurfy cat. And now, I'm likely remembering it so they don't have to. Oh, dear, the implications of that statement are crazy...

Right. With my posture fixed, I look at the target. With a frown, I pull the trigger.

Wait, shit, I forgot how to make it happen! F-

Oh. I guess my twitching is a good habit after all. Up goes the shotgun, in goes the round-

Ow, fuck! My shoulder!

"Ow!" I nearly lose my grip on the shotgun as I feel something very uncomfortable against my shoulder.

Ash is by my side in an instant, looking at my shoulder with a disapproving shake of her head. "Right," she says. "I wouldn't say you'd have to raise the barrel up that high..."

"Ow..." I say, gripping my shoulder. "It's just, I think I tried to help the recoil..."

"Don't," says Ash. "I adjusted your grip to work with that. Don't let go of your shotgun."

I nod, but still grasp my shoulder. "Ow, that kinda hurt," I say.

"Well, fortunately it's nothing too serious," she said. "The rounds were out of the gun by the time the barrel hit you... And the results aren't too bad..."

I blink at this, forgetting the dull pain in my shoulder for the moment. I look at the target, and I see that most of the shotgun blast tore into the poor guy's head. I smirk at this. Boom headshot indeed.

"Huh, I'm not doing too badly," I say, holding my shoulder. "I'm gonna wait first, though. Let the pain go away."

Ash gives me a disapproving look. "You know that you won't have time to let the pain go away on the battlefield," she says.

I tilt my head to the side. "I know," I say. "But still, I'm off the battlefield. I'd like to indulge a bit, if you don't mind."

Oh, dear. The gunnery chief blinks at this, not sure what to say to that. She crosses her arms, giving me a deriding look. Oh, shit, I think I pissed her off...

"Just don't get used to it," she says. "I don't want to have to drag your body off the battlefield because you couldn't brush off some pain."

I nod, rubbing my shoulder lightly. It kinda hurts... Well, wait a minute...

"Actually," I say, glancing back to the targets. "I'll probably be getting worse in the battlefield anyway. So that's something that I need to get used to."

"I'm not sure anyone ever gets used to getting shot anywhere," says Ashley. "But... that's one reason why you can't really hesitate."

"Yeah," I agree. "You know what? Forget the pain." I raise my shotgun again. "Let's just do this."

I can see Ash smiling out of the corner of my eye, and I actually feel a small amount of pride swell in me when I see that.

Okay, prime it, and... Wait, shit, I'm thinking about the power drill death from _Heavy Rain_ again. Madison Paige is one tough chick, I can tell you that much... It's shocking how her fate there is up to the player. Whether you let her get drilled in the ovaries or not. Actually, that sounds really, really, really painful. That would be a terrible death if there ever was one. But then, so is getting a power drill to the heart, if you do the QTE well enough. Yeah... power drill deaths are not fun... It's a good thing I beat my first playthrough of _Heavy Rain_ when I did. I don't know what I would've done with myself if I hadn't beaten it before coming over here, as it really is a cool experience. I got Ethan and Norman to survive, and I saved the kid, so... It's too bad I couldn't save Madison. I'm such an idiot for making her jump out of the window of Scott's apartment. Should've trusted her lampshade hanging when she checked. Note to self: burning apartments are not fun. Especially when you're trapped in one. It's still kind of tough to believe that the Origami Killer was a controllable character. But then, I began to see it coming when Scott neglected to mention the box and the cell phone to Lauren. So...

I raise the shotgun. Fortunately, I've got pretty good muscle memory, so I position it as Ash had adjusted me before. I stand there, a small grin on my face as I look to the target. All right, we're firing this gun...

Now.

Oh, hey, the recoil isn't so bad. It doesn't hit me, it doesn't hit Ash, the bullet hits the target... Everybody's happy! I smirk at this, noticing Ash nodding at the clean bullet holes in the center of the target out of the corner of my eyes. Right.

Time for a movie reference!

"Groovy."

* * *

And fortunately, shotgun training went pretty smoothly from there. Well, as smoothly as it can go when you constantly get on your instructor's nerves, anyway.

We just went over basic aiming rules after that, different places to hold it, and that think. I asked her if we could saw off he barrel like in some zombie movies, but she was very much against it. Well, damn... It would have been badass to have a sawed-off shotgun. Cause then... well, actually, I don't know what would happen... But it would still be damn awesome. Ah, well, looks like a missed moment. And then, we tried aiming in all these other positions. I nearly whacked myself in the face with the barrel of the shotgun by accident at one point, and very nearly shot Ash... But other than that I think I'll get the hang of the shotgun. Preferrably sooner than later.

It'll be interesting to see what I do once I bring this thing into battle, anyway. It sits on my armor's magnetic strip now, just under my pistol. Fun times will come about, I'm sure of it. It's currently resting on the table, and I look at the armor. It's rather light battle armor, but it does its job nevertheless. So I'm good with that.

So, yeah, shotgun. Fun times abound. Is it odd that we'll be coming up with a mission where we'll be facing mindless clones? That will definitely be good for a slew of zombie movie references, I'm sure. But probably not, given how dire the situation is. Still, I should be able to come up with something, right? Right? We'll see what happens with that.

For now, I'm looking at the odd thing Benezia gave me. I still have too many questions about it, but honestly... I like shiny things that I can hold in my hand. I've taken a closer look at this thing. It does indeed feel a lot like that pen from _Percy Jackson _that Chiron gave to Percy at the start of the movie. I wonder if a Pierce Brosnan look-alike would show up to give me something similar. If they did, it would be absolutely hilarious. But, Benezia is close enough to a mystical entity giving me something, so I guess I should still have my quota filled. Um... I wonder.

I wonder too about Benezia. I don't think biotics were supposed to be able to stop time. Maybe this object is going to go about doing stuff behind the scenes? Maybe it helped Benezia stop time? I dunno. Whatever it is, it's certainly more than just a paperweight.

Might as well add that to my farewell note.

I tuck it away in my pocket, feeling the weight of it next to my cell phone.

I wonder how my frat brothers are doing right now. We still hadn't rushed in the new class when I got here. And I can't exactly talk to them again. But, parts of them will always be with me. For the life of me, I don't think I'll _ever _be able to forget DeCarlo's whole "rape me Lord" bit. It was blasphemous as to be not safe for work, but it was so damn funny at the same time I really didn't care. Especially how fucking loud he was saying it: cats from China could've heard him yell it all out. Also, the team building excercises where we got to yell at Mark for messing us all up. And especially when we were walking around Boston late at night saying that we were trying to get Matt and Sam to lose weight. Ah, those were good times.

It's too bad I can't really talk about them in detail. But hey, what can I do? I'll always be in the fraternity spirit no matter what.

Once a Sinfonian, always a Sinfonian, as they say. Long live Sinfonia.

And... now I'm getting homesick again. Well, there's something reflective in reminiscence. I wonder what Thane would go on about when recounting his more pleasant memories when he loses himself to solipsism. I also wonder how much reminiscing Liara will do when she has to work against the Shadow Broker, too. That'll probably be big when they get to ME2 without me. I'm not planning on joining them, so... Although, if I did stick around for some unaccountable thing, I'd probably think a lot about home and what's going on there.

Eh, we'll see what happens. For now, I'm shooting for home. And when I shoot for home, I'm pretty sure I'll hit.

Well, best not to think about that. 'Cause I've got a shotgun! Geth troopers, you better look out, 'cause Art is in the house!


	8. Chapter 7

_A/N: Crap... I lost the original A/N for this chapter. Damn it website document manager!_

_Anyway, as of late I've been going back to MV1 and editing some of the conversations. So this is Present!Me going back and editing stuff. Yeah, mostly the conversations changed, so... yeah. You know how it is._

* * *

Chapter 7: Feros, Part 1

After we had stayed on the Citadel, we left for Feros.

The journey took a bit longer than I thought it would. That navigation interface makes travelling in the galaxy look easy. But no, there was so much time to kill that I actually spent too much time thinking. But that's fine. I got to hang out with some of the crew of the Normandy a bit more, catching up with Garrus, Tali, Wrex, and Liara as much as I could. Ash is kind of starting to warm up to me, I think, even if she still snarks about the sound of my voice every so often. Shepard is always friendly, and we talk about our siblings sometimes. Al seems to be pretty innocent despite being in N7 training...

Kaidan and I get along well enough, but something seems a little off to me. Like he suspects me. A lot of his questions have been asking me what my life was like back on Earth, but I insistently dodged the question whenever he came up with info I couldn't counter. I would do an extranet search afterwards to see what was up with the Boston area so I could add background to my cover story, but still, I get the feeling that we'll reach a point where I won't be able to hold my cover up anymore. Hopefully by that time I won't be here anymore, but still...

I just hope things don't get too out of hand.

That said, though, I am very much looking forward to this coming mission. Shepard has asked Tali, Liara, Kaidan, and myself to come on down to Feros with her. I get to go on a mission with Tali! Yay! And we'll see how two biotics can work together. Everything will be flying up on this mission, I can tell you that much. And it will be awesome.

I can't wait for Feros. It'll be a really long day, but hey, it's a Bioware RPG, I have to get used to it sooner or later.

* * *

All right, it's the day of the mission. I'm strapped in my armor, and I just left the mess hall from breakfast. I am going along when I run into Ash along the corridors.

"Hey Ash," I say nodding.

The Gunnery Chief nods, stopping in place. "Hello, Serviceman," she says. "I wanted to ask you something before you went over to Feros."

I nod at this, crossing my arms as I stop in place. "What's up?" I ask.

She gestures to my head. "Are you planning on getting your hair cut anytime soon?" she asks.

Oh, God, now she's getting at my hair too? "Hey, I like my hair," I say, pointing at it. "It's nice and long. That's all I need!"

The gunnery chief gives me a look. "I dunno, Serviceman, we do have regs against hair of that length," she says. "It does tend to get in the way of combat."

I shake my head. "I'd rather not," I say. "You know how it is..."

Ash shrugs, and then I see her unveil a grey cloth. She holds it out to me. "Then you might want to take this," she says. "Just so it doesn't get in your line of sight."

Oh? I'm gonna look like a Gears of War dude now? "Oh?" I ask, taking the cloth from her. "So I just take this and wrap it around my head?"

"Alliance regs allow for that if you don't like to cut your hair," she says. "Either way, they don't want hair in your vision."

"I see," I say. Hm... She's just looking out for me, then. Not trying to be annoying. Right. I get that impression about a lot of people. Taking a quick glance at the grey cloth, I nodded. Taking it in my hands, I brush my hair back as much as I can, leaning my head back so it would stay that way. Applying the cloth that Ash gave me, I tied it around so that the knot formed behind my head. I'm not experienced with these kinds of things, but after a little while I manage to get it to look more or less satisfactory. Nodding, I feel the object on my head and nod.

"Well?" I ask. "How do I look?"

Ash nods, a small smile coming on her face. "Not bad, Serviceman," she says. "Not bad at all."

"I guess not," I say, nodding. "It feels... a little odd, though. But I'll get used to it. Thanks, Ash."

"No problem," she says with a nod. "Good luck on Feros."

"Thanks," I say, moving to walk down the corridor. "You take care of the crew while we're gone!"

And that is what happens with our brief little exchange there. I head over to the airlock of the Normandy soon after, and I find Shepard and Tali already waiting for me. I nod to Tali befoe looking at Shepard. Both of them are eyeing the grey cloth strangely.

"That's a rather... odd cloth you have there," comments Tali.

"I'll bet Ash got it to you," adds Shepard.

I nod. "That she did," I reply. "You never know with these Alliance regs."

I get agreement from Shepard as I divert my attention to the air lock.

* * *

We leave the Normandy's air lock shortly after. Hm...

"Something about all this is too quiet," I comment, just loud enough to be heard by the squad but hoping it was not loud enough to be heard by anything else.

"You don't say," comments Shepard. "They didn't respond to our hails..."

"I hope the geth attack was not too bad," adds Kaidan as we move down the platform.

Oh, dear, Kaidan. You've got no idea. You've got no idea at all... I hope the Thorian isn't too bad. He sounds like one nasty motherfucker after what Saren does to him... Shit, I hope he can't read my mind...

Right.

We move down the platform, and we see a lone man there. Oh, dear. This is not a good welcoming party, I can tell you that much... Only one guy can't be a good sign...

We move closer to him, such that we get by his side. Oh, dear, the poor guy looks exasperated.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, looking over to the man.

"No..." he says, shaking his head. "The geth overran Zhu's Hope."

Oh, shit. Just as I had hoped would not happen. We cast glances at each other, and I look to Shepard.

"Can you tell us what happened?" she asks.

The man shakes his head. "No," he says. "You should find your way into Zhu's Hope and speak to Fai Dan."

Kaidan blinks at this. "Why not?" he asks, crossing his arms.

"All I know is that Fai Dan sent out a signal for aid," he said. "You have to go see him. Soon."

Liara opens her mouth to press the issue further when suddenly a shot goes off. The man falls limp on the ground, and then we see a geth trooper standing there, its single glowing eye glancing at us.

"Shit!" I shout, reaching for my assault rifle. "Geth!"

I dive behind cover, firing a few rounds at the geth as the others draw their weapons. I see Liara and Kaidan check their ammo as I sidle up next to Tali. Oh, dear, this isn't going to be fun at all...

Kaidan emerges briefly from his cover, and before I can say anything else I suddenly see a geth hover in the air, rising above the floor ever so slowly. All right, there's a chance. I pop out of my cover and fire at the mechanical creature as I hear Tali take her shotgun out and fire at another of the sentient robots coming to them from behind that one. Liara manages to levitate that one as well, which I only notice as soon as I fire into the geth enough times to take its shields down. It falls back to earth quickly, but Tali drops a shotgun blast on it head and it is more or less out of commision. I glance up and see Shepard firing a few rounds into a geth I can't see, and I suddenly notice Kaidan firing on the geth that Liara had suspended in midair. I join him then, letting the rapid fire weapon help Kaidan finish the geth off.

I peer around the corner as the geth falls to the ground, having been taken out of commission. I see a few more geth coming this way, and...

All right. Time to put that shotgun to good use.

I switch out my weapons, waiting for a good opportunity to fire when I get there. I see Kaidan raise his hand out to raise a geth, and a machine flies up accordingly. Shepard starts firing at it, and its shields get weakened considerably as I see. When its shields are down, I take this time to come out of my cover and fire a shotgun shell at it. Here goes!

I pull the trigger, and while I do nearly get knocked back by the recoil I feel satisfied when I see the geth's lights flicker out. I cock my shotgun and fire again, this time knowing how to expect the recoil. I watch, satisfied, as the geth seems to get taken out of comission, and then I duck back down behind my cover. A bit late, I should say, but the fight seems like it's very close to being over seeing as how Tali and Liara have already gotten to the final geth while I was taking care of the lone one that Kaidan had elevated above the ground.

Hey, wait... I think we're thinking like a team here. Biotics raise stuff, one of us fires on it while the others concentrate on the ground units. We're beginning to find our niche as a team. I guess it's a kind of nice thing to see. Here we are, a bunch of oddballs doing stuff, and we're beginning to function like we know each other too well. I'm liking where this is going.

I look to Shepard. "Damn..." she says.

"It seems the geth have really taken over," comments Tali.

I shrug. "We can't lose hope," I say. "If one of the colonists was able to get this far away from the rest of the colony, then I think the colonists are fine." Well, that, and I know they're fine. But they won't be once they get affected by the Thorian. Either way, shit's gonna hit the fan real hard once we get to the ExiGen headquarters.

"That's true," says Kaidan, looking down the hallway where the geth came out of. "But I don't think we can stay here for long. They could get overrun any second."

"Seems we got that distress beacon for a reason," adds Shepard. "Come on, let's go find Zhu's Hope."

And hopefully... Oh, dear, I swear I thought of this before...

Oh, well. Let's terminate more geth, motherfuckers!

* * *

Okay, wow, there are a lot of geth here. Much more so than the game. I can see why the distress beacon was so... well, distressed. We almost got overwhelmed once or twice. But, fortunately, Shepard is as good with her biotics as she is with her gun, so a little bit of biotic work managed to save us. Huh, there are a lot of biotics on this mission. I wonder if Shepard thought of that beforehand. It makes for a nice balance; someone who can disable and hack into geth units and possibly get them to work for us, two guys who can levitate things, and two guys who can shoot stuff reasonably well. I kind of like how she's thinking.

I failed at that... So yeah, I'm a little jealous. But seeing her in action now... it's really easy to see why people look up to her. She can keep her head calm in any situation, she can fire guns really well... I knew that controlling her in the game meant she got some kind of god-like power, but then she was still vulnerable, especially if the difficulty was too high. But here, she really feels nigh-untouchable, even when she's administering medi-gel on her person. It's no wonder Cerberus will want to bring her back. Sometimes I pause when I shoot my gun so I can get a look at the commander. Because god damn it, is she good. I love every second of it.

Well... I guess I've thought about that for long enough. Back to the subject at hand.

We eventually come across a rather odd structure. I give it an odd look as I step forward. And then, we find colonists!

"Oh hey, the colonists are still alive," I point out.

"This is very good," says Shepard. "We need to find this Fai Dan person that he person at the docking bay told us about."

And with this, we enter the structure. Shepard goes first, being the commander and all, and we're left to trail. I hold my weapon slightly at ease, still feeling a little tense about the whole 'attacked by geth' bit. When we enter the craft, though, we see two humans looking around. Oh, hey, it's Fai Dan and that Arcelia chick!

Seeing this, Shepard lowers her weapon and moves over to the two humans. They suddenly notice Shepard, and a smile lights up one of their faces. It's Fai Dan's face.  
"Oh, Commander," he says. "I'm glad they finally sent someone to help us."

The woman gives us a look of contempt. "You're a bit late, aren't you?" she asks.

I give her a leery look back. I'm on the same track as Fai Dan. "Arcelia!" he says reprimandingly. He turns back to us with a nod. "Sorry, Commander," he says. "We have all been on edge since-"

And he doesn't get to say anything more before I feel a round whiz by my head.

"Shit, Geth stormed the tower!" shouts Arcelia as she grabs her firearm out quickly. I do the same, getting out my shotgun as the rest of the crew of the Normandy sits back behind cover and the geth shoot at us.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" shouts Fai Dan.

I look to Shepard as the rounds begin to fly by and some colonists show up. She nods to me and then to Kaidan. She gives us a gesture. Oh, okay. Follow her. Right. Got it.  
I do that, keeping in a partial crouch as I let off a few pistol shots at the advancing geth. I stay crouched a little too long, and then I notice Shepard running in there. Shit, gotta follow! I sprint in after her, seeing a few geth run towards our position. I fire a few rounds in there just as Kaidan enters behind me. I run behind cover quickly, grabbing an arm out to stop me and taking a second to catch my breath and switch out my gun. All right, time to see what the shotgun can do!

I come out behind cover just as Shepard is seen firing a few rounds into the geth. I come up behind, noticing a geth advance towards us that barely escapes her notice. I cock my shotgun briefly before firing at it. The first shot... partially misses, so I cock it again. Okay, try two. And... this time, I got it! Sweet!

Now to do something about my slowly-depleting shields. I duck back behind cover, taking this time to reload my shotgun. I can hear the chaos around me. Bullets. Shit being fired. Yells. Bleeps and bloops.

Beethoven would've had a field day. If he were alive in this moment in the game, he'd throw out Duke Wellington's Victory: this would probably be the concert overture he would have written instead.

Right, enough speculation on Beethoven. Let's kill some more geth.

I come out of cover just as I see Shepard running to another spot. Kaidan is still close by, levitating a geth in the air as a few escape the commander's notice. Wow, the commander really is untouchable.

But that's not of concern at the moment. I look to the geth in the air and fire my shotgun twice at the geth as I hear Kaidan shoot at a few other geth. I look back down again as it falls to the floor... processor-less? I dunno. I shoot at some more geth, and then see that Shepard is advancing.

Well, since she's going that far I might as well not get left behind. I jump out of cover and sprint after her, shotgun in hand as I hear bullets zoom by me. I swear a few of them got my shields, but hey. I duck back behind cover, breathing in again before popping out. I see a geth run to Kaidan's position, and I fire a shotgun at it once. A burst of blue light then comes from the robot, destroying whatever circuits are within. I don't dwell on it, though, turning around and seeing another geth rush our position. I fire my shotgun at it twice, seeing the geth beginning to slow down. I look back, ducking behind cover as I look to Kaidan. He's advancing quickly, and I turn to find another geth headed towards us. I fire at it, cocking the shotgun against my cover as I feel a bullet grace my fingers.

Well, it only graced it. Good thing one didn't fly off. Good thing too that my armor is of the prototype that recharges its own shields. My shields go back up as I open up my omni-tool and administer some medi-gel. Okay, that should take care of that. Right.

I pop out of my cover and see a few geth. Kaidan has already lifted one off the ground, but I see Shepard running towards us with her assault rifle. She's firing it around in waves, and...

Oh, shit! There's no friendly fire protection in real life! I duck down behind cover as the bullets fly above me. I see a geth run from where I am behind my cover, and I fire at it as Shepard's assault rifle rounds go into it.

There are much more geth that then come pouring out. Oh, boy, time for a field day.

The next few minutes are me rising out of cover with my shotgun in hand. I fire at the geth, and they all seem to fall like flies. Geez, I wonder how expendable Saren sees these things. Whatever, it's more experience for me. My shields deplete themselves several times, however, and each time I'm out of cover a little too long. Damn, I need to learn to duck behind cover more instinctually. I dunno.

But this battle is going by pretty quickly as geth unit after geth unit falls to our firepower. Eventually, we've whittled down the room to just a few geth. I fire a shotgun right at one that hits it in the face, I see a last explosion of blue by another one, and suddenly, sound dies down all around us. All that can be heard is the sound of a drop ship hovering away nearby.

I wipe some sweat off my... wait, I was sweating? Huh. I didn't even notice for some reason. Anyway... I wipe some sweat off my brow, standing up as Shepard and Kaidan reconvene at the center of the room.

"The geth dropship just left," says the commander. "With any luck, it won't attack this tower again."

"Right," I say. "Let's get back to Fai Dan with this information."

Kaidan and Shepard nod, and we all walk back. As we move along, I suddenly seem to notice that Kaidan and Shepard are moving a bit... too close to each other... Huh...  
And now they're talking about something. I'll just be the third man out, as I'm really good at being. And they're talking about something I don't really care about either, so that's a plus. Uh...

Wait, why are they walking...

Oh dear. She's gunning for Kaidan, isn't she? Oh, boy. This is going to be very heavy. Shit... This is cruel of me. Kaidan's not going to listen to her on Horizon, so should I...?  
No. There's the risk of my cover being blown. And besides, I get the feeling she won't listen to me anyway. But on top of all that, who the fuck am I to deny her whatever will make her happy? I can't just go in there and tell her to not foster a relationship with her Lieutenant; it would be cruel, not to mention against regs. If she feels something for Kaidan... Yeah, I'll just let her be.

And if she's trying to hide the fact that she's fraternizing with someone below her ranks... Well, she ain't doing a very good job of it. But it's cute, so I won't say anything. So yeah.

I just hope my prediction about Horizon is horrifically wrong...

* * *

When we get back, we see Tali and Liara standing by Fai Dan. All right, so we've gotten the stuff clear.

"I see the tower is clear," says Fai Dan. "Thank you."

"Hey, we did what we could," I say.

"So will Zhu's Hope be all right?" asks Shepard with a shrug.

Fai Dan shakes his head. "No, unfortunately," he says. "There is still much to be done. We need to reconstruct the colony, and there is still work that needs to be done to make sure the colony can get back on its feet."

"What sort of work?" asks Shepard, crossing her arms.

"We need help with various things," replies Fai with a hand gesture. "Getting power back to the colony, restoring the water, being able to hunt varren... But those are all things in the tunnels. And those are filled with geth right now."

We all glance at each other and shrug. "It shouldn't be a problem," says Kaidan. "We can do all that."

"Excellent!" says Fai. "There are various people you can talk to about all of that. Let them know you're willing to help before you go. They can tell you what each job entails." As we leave, however, he stops us briefly. "Oh, and be careful. I don't think some of the colonists are entirely there."

I raise my brow as Shepard turns to us. "Why do you say that?" she asks.

"I don't know why, but some of the colonists have been acting strange," he says. "As if they're not working on their own. It's kind of wierd."

"I'll bet," I say. "We'll be careful."

Fai Dan simply nods, and then he's back to looking around the colony.

Okay, so we've got our work cut out for us. At least, I know I do. Unless we decide to split up and tackle individual tasks the same way we did when we were on Noveria. I wonder who I'm going with if that's the case.

* * *

Well, the colonists definitely were a little odd. But yeah, control spores tend to do that to people. Let's just hope the Thorian isn't too hard to kill when we finally find it. In the meantime...

I just got a ticket to more bonding time with Tali! Yay!

Shepard, Kaidan, and Liara are all going off to tackle the varren problem. Tali and I are going to restore the water, and then we'll reconvene and take out the remaining geth in the tunnels. I have my assault rifle out, she has her shotgun, and her omni tool is poised for action.

Yeah, we ran into some geth down these tunnels. We're shooting our way through a few more of those robots. Well, it'll help clear the geth out of these tunnels. And since we're kind of on the way anyhow, we'll get stuff done. Tali is a tech expert, so we should be fine. And... well, these geth keep turning on themselves. It's almost hilarious, really. But we kick ass, take names, and have fun.

Right. We've defeated the geth all around the area, and now we see a bunch of white things. I look at them, and cross my arms.

"Right," I say. "These look like the panels we need to activate."

"Of course," says Tali, going over to one of the panels and scanning it briefly with her omni tool. "There were quite a lot of geth here."

"Indeed," I reply, looking down. "It's kind of scary, really. I wonder how many more geth are hiding behind the Perseus Veil..."

Tali hesitates, her fingers hovering above the omni tool's interface. "Probably many more," she says. "They never move from there, though... Let's hope that most of them don't."

"I highly doubt that'll happen," I reply. Hm... Maybe I can spoonfeed things slowly. "I wonder... You say the geth asked your people if they have a soul?"

"They did," replies Tali as we hear a bing on the panel. "Why do you ask?"

The two of us move to the next console as I think. "Well, I've been thinking lately," I reply, rubbing my chin as the omni tool interface comes up again. "If the geth do have a soul as they asked you, then wouldn't that make them more similar to us than we think?"

"What do you mean?" asks Tali.

"Like, what if they could... ah... disagree on something?" I ask with a shrug. "Like, form their own factions within each other? Like, say, one group that worships these Reapers and one that doesn't?"

The quarian pauses in her work. Clearly I think I've hit something. I can't see her as her back is to me, but I can sense the uncertainty in her gestures. Hm... Maybe she's thinking about it. This could be good. I dunno.

Finally, she returns to work on the reservoir. "I wouldn't know," she says finally. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, as either way the geth forced us out of our homeworld. They may not all worship the same things, but you must understand that they probably still hold some apathy for the creators..."

I nod. Well, that didn't turn out so well. But looking back, I think she'll see my point once we get Legion in the crew. "I dunno," I say. "It's just something I've been thinking about lately. Maybe A.I. is a far more complex affair than we can fathom."

Tali finishes work on that panel and we move on to the next one. "It definitely is," she comments, bringing up her omni tool again as we approach the third panel. "We were unable to control their sentience."

I shrug. "A.I. and the... er... organic mind, so to speak... I think they're both similar in one way," I say, looking up at the ceiling of the tunnels as Taly works on the panel.

"And what would that be?" asks the quarian.

I shrug. "They're both too complex for any one person to grasp," I say, looking back down at my companion. "Think about it. The mind isn't something we can really fathom. Why do we think? Why do we feel emotion? Why do we store knowledge? That's something we can't really answer. And an A.I. is based on the mind, so that makes us even more at odds. Sure, we know why we want an A.I., but can we understand what is going through its circuits? Probably not. Both are equally complex."

By the time I'm done speaking, Tali is finished with the third panel. She hesitates and turns to me, crossing her arms and giving me what I can only assume is a studious look.

"You know, you confuse me sometimes," she says. "You never seem like the kind of guy that would think into things like that. It's a little jarring..."

Oh, dear. "Well, there are... lots of surprising things about me," I reply with a shrug. Some things I can't reveal, of course, but you don't need to know that.

She nods, and I can feel something faint from behind the mask. "It's actually... very odd for me," she says. "I have never met anyone who can come up with quite the kinds of thoughts you do. And yet, it always puts things in a different perspective. It's... interesting. And it's certainly not something I would will away."

I smile as we walk over to the last panel that needs to be activated. "Glad to know someone doesn't mind my thinking aloud," I reply.

"It gives many new perspectives on something," she says as she hovers over it with her omni tool. "And new perspectives are good when you try to think of everyone."

I nod. "That's good to know," I say. "Except for the fact that I was thinking about the geth..."

"Still, it's not a bad thing," she concedes, her fingers gliding deftly over the omni tool interface. "You never know... We'll see what happens with this idea."

Oh, so she's keeping it in mind. Okay, that's good. I love the sound of that.

Her omni tool cuts off, and then we hear a slight whirr. I look around, and nod. "Well, the water's been restored," I say. "So I would think we're done here."

"That we are," she says with a nod. "Shepard's probably waiting for us."

"Then let's go!" I say.

And we leave the tunnels. This is... starting to feel like a strangely familiar place. It's certainly a very good kind of conversation, and it would definitely be one that Bioware would put up. It's a good thing they had the in-squad banter between characters in their games, although I don't think they've quite reached the apex the way they have in something like Dragon Age. But still, it's a good look into how the characters around the main character interact. And each game is all the better for it. And you know what? It's fun talking to the other squad members during a mission. It's awesome for opinions, and it answers a question I used to have about RPG games: what would members of the party say to each other?

This is most interesting, really. But I'm getting off track as we go to meet up with Shepard.

* * *

Well, we took care of the remaining geth and returned to Zhu's hope. After getting some things done, Fai Dan told us about the nearby ExoGeni headquarters, where the geth seem to have been concentrating from. Huh, I don't remember that from the game. It may be because I haven't played it in a while, but... Hm.

Well, whatever. We have to head to ExoGeni. And that will be quite fun. I wonder what the Mako will do there. That will be quite fun to ride on, I bet.

And we'll find out soon enough, as Shepard and the group sees the vehicle. I look at it. Damn, it looks so much more badass in real life. I guess it's because of the metal; it's different from what it was in the game. It's not exactly silver metal; it's more like a greenish metal. Like those veridium things from Dragon Age. Greenish-silver, I guess. It's a nice color to have, it seems. And many things go well with that. I wonder...

Shepard gets to drive. Good thing, because I'm a terrible driver. Liara, Tali, Kaidan and I all step into a rather small passenger area with no windows. All we have to see outside are virtual interfaces that show us the outside world in very close detail. Oh, hey, it's like the daytime driving cameras from Daybreakers! It's interesting to see what the inside of this vehicle looks like, as we never actually saw it in the game. It's futuristic enough...

... Right down to the fact that the chairs don't have any seat-belts. What the fuck? There are harnesses there like what I'd find on a roller coaster, but still. What the hell? They can't produce small leathery straps in the future? Oh, dear... This may not go well.

I sit in a seat and pull the restraint over me. "I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about this," I say.

Surprisingly, Kaidan gives me an odd look as he enters the Mako. "I guess you've heard about Shepard's terrible driving skills?" he asks.

I tense up slightly. Wait, Shepard's the problem? I know that Yahtzee made fun of the Mako's poor gravity physics in his review of Mass Effect 2, but that was more because of Shepard? "Uh... not really," I say.

"Oh, dear," says Tali as she gets in. "It is not something you should be looking forward to."

"Why?" I ask. "What's up?"

"It's Shepard," says Kaidan with a shrug as he pulls the restraint over him. "We're almost guaranteed a bumpy ride. She's a good commander, but her driving leaves something to be desired..."

I shift uncomfortably as Liara sits in the Mako. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better," I say. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"To Shepard's credit, it does seem as if this model has... springy wheels," says Liara in her defense. "This discussion would suggest she doesn't seem to know how to handle it yet, however."

Oh, god damn it! "Stop it!" I say, holding out my hands. "You're making the anticipation kill me!"

"Sorry, sorry," says Kaidan. "But what do you mean, anticipation?"

I shrug. "I always get tense when I expect something," I say. "It's part of my nature. I mean, you know. My fear of deadlines should be a dead giveaway for that, anyhow. I just get tense when I have expectations of something. It's always happened."

Kaidan gives me a rather odd look. He looks like he's about ready to speak, but he's thankfully interrupted by the engine of the Mako... wait, they have engines in the future that make this much noise? I simply sit there and take it with a grain of salt. Right. Now it's time to see-

Whoah! She speeds right out of the gate. This catches me by surprise, and I grip the restraint with a suddeness I didn't think I had. Shit, that was fast. And partly uncomfortable. Damn it, my head hit that part of the Mako pretty damn hard. Ow... Well, at least it wasn't like Noveria when the asari commando flung me. At least there's that.

And, oh, shit, the ride just got incredibly bumpy. I hear some weird things ping against the side of the ship, and I look forward.

"What the hell?" I ask.

"Bullets!" shouts Kaidan over the suddenly very high levels of noise. "They're pinging off the vehicle!"

Oh, dear, I didn't think bullets hitting a vehicle would be this loud! I sit back, wide-eyed as the ride suddenly gets just a bit bumpier.

And then suddenly, I feel my entire body slide an inch or so to the side, my body hitting the restraint as somehow we're careening around in a circle. I look to the interface on the side of the vehicle and see the world spinning around us, some kind of wierd geth vehicle. The armatures, no doubt. Fuck...

When the spinning ends, my head reels slightly with the Mako as it rights itself. I feel ourselves accelerating forward again, the ride becoming extremely bumpy yet again as I notice we're moving forward.

"Okay..." I say. "Maybe you were right, Liara. These wheels-"

And I'm interrupted yet again by a loud noise, and suddenly the entire Mako seems to have made some kind of jump.

"Oh, shit!" We're leaning to the side! Oh, shit, don't flip, don't flip, don't flip, don't flip!

I hear a noise, feel myself press down against the seat briefly, and I know we're back on the ground.

"Shit..." I whisper to myself as the bumpy ride continues. Shit, this is something straight out of an Orlando theme park. Probably like the Back to the Future ride that used to be at Universal before Matt Groening took over the attraction building... It's bumpy, it's wild, and it would probably be fun if this wasn't in the middle of a battlefield or something. Shit, this is really scaring me! Just hang on tight to your restraint. Shit, Art, just hang on tight, play some rock music in your head and pretend Mikaela Banes is at the wheel with Bumblebee riding out on the back shooting at stuff...

Except for the fact that this car can jump. Which would be awesome if it wasn't for the fact that I'm nearly flying out of my seat on the way down. Fuck! This is like a free-fall ride, only in a closed space! Oh, God, help!

Ah, crap, what the hell was that bump? Shit, ow ow ow! Oh, crap. Ow! The ride is hurting me! Stop the ride! Stop the ride! Ow!

I don't remember what the hell happens after that. I just feel a generally bumpy ride, with no hope of escaping. And suddenly, it all stops. It just, stops. I'm left inhaling deeply for a few seconds, my eyes wide as I look to Kaidan, Liara, and Tali, my hands clenched into fists around my restraints. It's not until Kaidan biotically moves my hands away that I see the restraint come up. I look to the group terror in my eyes.

Everybody else nods at this. "You get frightened easily, I take it," says Liara.

I nod, too petrified to do anything else. "Whatever you do, do not make me ride this thing again once we leave Feros," I say finally. "Especially with Shepard at the wheel. Please, dear god, don't!"

"We'll try to keep it in mind," says Kaidan as he helps me to a standing position. "I can't promise anything, though."

And with this, we exit that god-forsaken vehicle. I'm with Yahtzee on this one: the gravity does not make driving fun. Except that instead of making it frustrating like in the game, it's absolutely terrifying in real life. I mean... that driving was something that would get your license taken away back home in Miami. And given how horribly everybody drives down there, that says a lot.

Shit, never again. If I can help it, never, ever again.

* * *

Right. We had to reboard the Mako. Turns out we had run into someone that had holed up just outside of Exogeni headquarters. And then I got to it on the Mako again and go with Shepard's terrible driving. Whoop-de-fucking-doo.

And now we get off, hopefully for good this time. Now that we're making headway into going in the ExoGeni headquarters, we've come across the place. We've come to a barrier, and, well, there's no other way in, so. Good thing we found a cave. We jump in, and we put our weapons away. I don't see any geth around here, so we should be-  
A shot sounds off, and it deflects off of Shepard's shields. We all draw our weapons, and look to where the shot came from. But... it's a human woman in an ExoGeni uniform, scared out of her mind, and holding her firearm with a shaky hand. Why, hello there Lizbeth!

"Damn it!" she says, advancing slowly with her firearm held out. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were geth, or one of those varren." She approaches, and we all put our firearms away as she comes closer to us.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in here?" asks Shepard as we all walk forward.

The woman shakes her head. "It's my fault," she says. "Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data." Oh, trust me woman, I know how that feels. Especially when you're paranoid like me. "Next thing I knew, the geth ship latched on and the power went out. I was trapped... I tried to get out, but the path was blocked by that energy field that the geth put up. They don't want anyone getting access to the-"

"We're here for the geth," continues Shepard. "It's very important that we find out what they're after."

Lizbeth shrugs, balancing slightly on one leg more than the other as she speaks. "I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian," she says.

"A thorian?" asks Kaidan. "What's that?"

"It's an indigenous life form," continues Lizbeth. "ExoGeni was studying it."

I sigh and shake my head. "Oh, dear," I say. "Why is it that everyone trusts corporations or governments that study biological life forms? Didn't the Weapon-X project teach us all to explicitly avoid stuff like this?"

"It is difficult to comprehend your complaint," says Liara as she looks over to me. "What is Weapon X?"

"Uh... Comic book reference," I reply. "Not that important to the complaint itself. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but it seems to me that whenever some group with tons of money studies a biological life form it never ends well for anybody involved."

"Of course," says Shepard with a shrug. "That isn't exactly important now, though." Our attentions turn back to Lizbeth. "What else can you tell us? Do you know where this Thorian is?"

She hesitates slightly, but nods. "I might be able to, but not with the geth crawling around everywhere," she says. "Look, we need to get past the energy field!"

"Do yu know any way we can get past it?" asks Shepard.

"No, not exactly," concedes Lizbeth. "But I think the geth ship is powering it. I've noticed the geth laying power cables everywhere. You could follow those cables, but there's geth all over the place."

Shepard nods. "All right, we'll look into it," she says. "Stay put until the field is down."

Lizbeth scoffs softly at this. "Yeah, you don't need to tell me twice," she says. "I'll just find something to hide in until the field goes down." She takes something out of her uniform then, handing it to Shepard. "Here, take my ID," she continues. "This should get you past any locked doors. Good luck with that field."

And with this, Lizbeth runs and hides somewhere. We all look to everything else before Shepard shrugs.

"Let's go find this ship," says the commander.

And we don't need any extra confirmation to do so. We go along the path laid out before us, and we head to find the geth dropship.

* * *

Of course, it didn't take us long to find ourselves in front of a VI again. There was a krogan who just tried to kill us, but he went down pretty easily thanks to a few biotic attacks from Kaidan and Liara. I actually got the kill, as I actually got him with a shotgun to the face. That was something I don't think I ever want to see again... Or do again, for that matter. It was quite messy...

Anyways, we're now standing in front of a VI. We've just flashed our ID badge, gotten reprimanded for using weapons, and, well, it's nice to know that not all interfaces look like women that would look better if they were in the flesh.

"Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

At this, we all give each other looks. Liara nods at this, and I simply shrug.

"At least Lizbeth is all right," says the asari. "We'll see her soon, of course."

I nod at this, and then Shepard faces the VI.

"What information was the last user attempting to access?" she asks.

The VI hesitates for a moment, looking at us coldly. You know, this is honestly a little creepy looking at the VI. I don't know what it is... but something about these VI's just doesn't look right to me. I can't place if it's because it's holographic or because of the eyes or what, but... yeah, these things are creepy. And people thought the uncanny valley behind the mouth motions of the Heavy Rain character models was bad...

"Fetching Data," says the VI. "The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian."

"What did you tell him?" asks Shepard.

"I was unable to provide the previous user with relevent data," continues the VI nonchalantly. "Aside from lacking proper access, there has been no new available data on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation posts at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."

At the mention of Zhu's Hope, we all visibly flinch. We all look at each other, and then I'm left shaking my head.

"See?" I say, rubbing my face with my palm. "I knew this wouldn't end well for someone."

"Yes, but Zhu's Hope?" asks Kaidan. "What was ExoGeni hoping to do with the colonists?"

Tali shakes her head at this, crossing her arms. "If it's anything like what Art has been implying lately..." she says.

Oh. Oh dear. I've been a bit obvious about that, eh? Ah, well; I can chalk it up to general genre savvyness. It's not like we haven't seen this before; it just happens more in the Mass Effect universe than anywhere else. Oh well.

Shepard shakes her head. "Only one way to find out." She turns her attention back to the VI. "What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?"

The VI doesn't seem to acknowledge us as it continues. "Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost."

Oh, shit. This doesn't bode well...

"Tell me everything you know about the Thorian," says Shepard.

"The Thorian is a simple plant life form that exhibits a sentient behavior uncommon with other flora," continues the VI. "Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores, it can affect and control other organisms, including humans."

The VI continues to Shepard, but my attention is caught off guard. I look over to Kaidan and Liara, both of who look at Tali and I. We all give each other knowing looks as the VI continues in the background. I lose track of what it says, but I think Kaidan can hear every word. Oh, dear, that's not good.

"ExoGeni knew all along what would happen to those people," says Shepard, a bit of indignation showing in her voice.

"It was deemed necessary to assess the true potential of Species 37," continues the VI.

"Jesus Christ," I say, shaking my head and rubbing my head with my hand.

"Well, looks like your comic books were right," says Kaidan. I give him an indignant glare for the stab at my nerdiness. "This could explain why they were acting a little oddly."

"We should contact Joker," says Liara. "Tell him to be on alert."

Shepard nods and takes a hand up to her earpiece. "Joker," she says. She doesn't get a reply though. "Come in, Joker!"

There is silence for a brief period of time, and then she shakes her head. "Damn it, that field's blocking us," she says.

"We should drop that shield and return to the outpost then," says Tali with a nod.

Shepard agrees with this silently, turning to the VI. "VI, what can you tell me about the geth ship and the field that's surrounding it?"

"I have limited data on the geth," it replies. "They have effectively blocked all sensors in the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but I am unable to determine the source."

We nod at this, knowing that wherever the energy signature is will be where we find the geth ship.

"Let's get moving," says Shepard.

We draw our weapons out, and then we leave the VI station quickly. We've gotta get a move on, especially if the people back on the ship are going to survive this.

* * *

All right. We've just found this console, I guess. Shepard hacked into it pretty quickly to find out some other areas in which there was geth activity. Huh, that'll be useful. Wonder if Shepard will allow her to copy the data to help her complete her Pilgrimage. It looks to be very useful information, and it looks like we could be heading there next if things check out.

For now, though, we have to move! There are geth absolutely everywhere!

We're all ducking behind various pieces of cover and shooting at them. I decided to forget about the shotgun since there were so many, and I had swapped it out for my assault rifle. It's absolutely crawling with different geth soldiers.

Before we know it, though, we see why. I end up looking up from behind my cover to see a claw that is keeping the geth dropship attached to the building. I look at it oddly and then look over to see another console by a bay door that is open. Okay, that console should be the bay door. Okay, we've almost solved the geth problem. It's too bad that afterwards we'll still have the Thorian to deal with...

It's at this moment that Tali comes to come with me to the cover I've taken. The rest of the small squad comes as well, and I look back to the console. Shit, that could be a good idea. And plus, it'll be good training for the Collector base.

I gesture to Shepard as the geth fire a volley of firepower on us. She notices this, and then looks to me. Okay, good, I got her attention. I gesture behind me at the shuttle door, and then to Tali right next to me.

She nods at this, and then looks to Tali.

"Tali!" she says over the sound of gunfire. "There's a console behind us. Hack into it! We'll cover you!"

Tali nods wordlessly and heads on over to the console. Okay, cover Tali then.

I come up and fire my assault rifle at the oncoming geth. Their bullets are flying everywhere, but my shields manage to take a few hits before I have to duck down. I take that time to reload as I see the geth coming closer. Jeez, this thing has to have some kind of limit. I know theoretically the geth have to run out of parts to build themselves with eventually. When that limit will be reached is really the biggest question I have right now.

But I don't have time to ponder that as I come out of cover again. I fire away into the crowd, taking down a geth and noticing that Liara had fired off a singularity in there somewhere. I see a geth suspended, and spend some firepower on that. Okay, this is good, efficient cost-cutting measures in combat. All right.

I duck back down again to switch weapons. The crowd is beginning to noticeably thin out, and now I can spend a little individual time with the geth. I take a look to see Tali still working at the console to close the bay doors, and I nod at this.

I come out to fire at some more geth, and some more fall. I see progressively less geth rushing us. Looking around, I see that Liara's levitated yet another geth off the ground. Loking at that, I notice that Shepard has that one before I look on over to see a few geth coming in. I fire at one of them, taking it down as Kaidan fires a singularity their way.

All right, looks like there's one geth left. Shoot it!

I do just that, and I manage to deliver the first few shots before Shepard manages to... kill it... I guess... with another shot.

And what impeccable timing. Before anything else can be done, we suddenly hear a huge metallic groan as the bay door behind us begins to close. As it closes, we see it go right through the claw attaching the geth dropship to the building. It's... Ow, the metallic sound is hurting my ears! Ow, fuck! I cover my ears when I hear the sound of the claw being sheared, ducking slightly as the sound overtakes all.

And then, somewhere behind the shearing, I hear the sound of the door closing. And then, a loud metallic creaking is heard from there as... something... goes down. I uncover my ears to regard the silence that has taken a hold of everything in the area. I feel maybe a slight bit of reverberation from wherever the dropship lands, but that's really all we get.

I look back at them with a shrug. "Okay," I say with a shrug. "Now we've gotta get back to Joker and let him know-"

"Shepard, come in, damn it!" Oh. Speak of the devil.

The commander is quick to reply. "Joker," she says.

"Oh, thank god you picked up," he says. "I almost though you were dead!"

"Not in a long time, Joker," says Shepard. "What's your status?"

"The colonists have gone crazy," says Joker. "They're trying to break into the Normandy!"

We all look at each other with perturbed expressions on our faces. Yep, that's the moment I've been waiting for. It's a bit more perturbing hearing it from him, though. That can't be a good thing. Shepard seems worried, but she won't show it too much in front of us.

"Make sure the crew defends the ship," she says. "Defend it with all you've got!"

"Aye aye, commander," says Joker. "Ash took that initiative anyway!"

"I think we know why the colonists went crazy," adds Shepard. "Hang in there, and I'll get the problem solved as soon as I can."

"Aye aye, commander," repeates Joker. "Just don't take too long! I don't want to become some kind of crazy zombie type! And be careful! I'm sensing hostiles coming your way!"

I roll my eyes at this. Oh, Joker, making bad jokes even when you're terribly frightened. It's no wonder you're voiced by the creator of Robot Chicken; it begets your character quite a lot since he is supposed to be funny. The whole bad jokes thing works too. After all, they didn't win that Emmy award for writing.  
Still, I can't help but spare a small chuckle at this. I look at the others, and they all nod.

"Come on," says Shepard. "We've got a Thorian to see."

And with this, we leave the ExoGeni facility. Next up, Thorian creepers!


	9. Chapter 8

_A/N: All right, so we go through Feros and take out the Geth drop ship! Fun times abound with that, I tell you._

_So yeah, there is more lampshading on Art's end. You know what I really hate in sci-fi fiction in general? How prone it is to secret experiments. I really don't like it when they do stuff, because I get the idea that it never turns out well. True, it's often more successful and less harmful in real life, but still._

_So, anyway, let's get back to Feros. We've still got a second part with which to adventure around, right? So let's go!_

* * *

Chapter 8: Feros Part 2

As soon as we get past where the barrier used to be, we see Lizbeth standing right by the Mako. Lizbeth obviously knew something about all this. And I don't like that one bit. I forget what her attitude is here, so...

"You're back!" she says. "I ran over to this thing as soon as the barrier went down. I assume this is yours?"

I cross my arms. "You assume correctly, _Lizbeth_," I reply, putting special emphasis on her name. "You've got a lot of shit to explain!"

The woman steps back a bit, such that her back is now against the Mako. "H-how did you know my name?" she asks.

"We ran into a VI on our way to the drop ship," replies Shepard. "It gave us your name from the ID badge. It also told us things about the Thorian that you were able to hear about before us. It sounds like they were performing some illegal experiments."

_Like using humans as a control group, you bitch_. I don't know how I managed to keep that inside me, but I know Shepard has to do most of the talking here. My grimace lets my great displeasure known, though. I mean, seriously, who the fuck does ExoGeni think they are?

"Oh..." said Lizbeth, looking down at the ground as she rubbed her chin. "Oh dear..."

"Start explaining," I say, my voice coming out much more hostile than I intended. "Or-!"

Shepard turns to me with a glare in her eyes. "Stand down, Serviceman," she commands.

Oh, shit. That glare is a little freaky. That's what I get for saying stuff out of line... "Yes, Commander," I reply weakly, taking a step back. I can feel everyone else glaring at me in derision. Shit, I let my feelings get the better of me...

Shepard nods and turns to Lizbeth. "Now, what did you know about this?"

"I knew everything," says the ExoGeni worker. "I had to, being a research assistant and all. But... I didn't like what they were doing, either."

Oh? Ah, yes, I remember now! Thanks for that bit of recap!

"That's why I really stayed behind," continues Lizbeth. "I tried to send out a distress signal, but I got cut off by the energy field. And then you came along, and..."

"I see..." says Shepard, crossing her arms. "This looks pretty serious."

Lizbeth shakes her head. "Again, I didn't like this project either," she says. "I actually kind of agree with the serviceman here; it's a lot of shit, if you'll pardon my language."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "Oh," I say, easing up slightly. "Seems you were very vocal about it, then."

"Got me suspended, too," adds Lizbeth.

At this, we all jolt. Me, more violently than the rest. Oh, shit, I should've remembered this! Damn it, my memory is better than this! Well... then again, I don't remember most side quests from many other RPGs anyway, so... I guess I can't be expected to remember everything.

"I'm guessing you'll want to help," says Tali, crossing her arms as we all look at Lizbeth.

The ExoGeni assistant nods at this. "Yes, I would," she says. "Maybe there's something I can do to help. Let me come along."

Shepard nods. "We have hostiles coming here anyway," she adds. "Not the brightest idea to leave an unarmed person here. Come on."

I shudder slightly as Lizbeth says something. I really don't know what she says. I'm just worried about the Mako. We don't have enough room for five passengers in the passenger compartment. And I don't know if the driver's seat allows for a passenger to help manipulate the cannon and the guns. Shit, I don't know what-

I feel Kaidan's hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry," says Kaidan. "She'll likely go into one of the seats in the cockpit."

Oh, okay. "That makes me feel a little better," I say with a slight amount of relief. "All right. Let's do this... I apologize in advance if I scream like a little girl."

Kaidan has to hold in a chuckle at this as we all board the Mako, getting into the shoulder restraints and hoping that all goes well on the way back. At least, I hope it won't be as bumpy as before. 'Cause that would be a major problem. Ah, well. Only two more trips on the Mako and that part of the mission will be over, so I shouldn't be complaining, really.

* * *

As we were heading back to Zhu's Hope, we got interrupted by a few radio broadcasts from the bunker that the ExoGeni survivors had come around. Lizbeth asked us to stop by the ExoGeni bunker, and so we got out of that.

And now, here we are, having just gotten here as Jeong moved to give the order to purge the colony and just before Juliana could be taken away by the ExoGeni goons. Now Shepard is standing there, talking down to Jeong. Juliana asked that some people talk to her personally while Shepard took care of that, so Liara and I elected to do that. Well, mostly on Shepard's orders, but still, I'm not one to argue with that since I'm afraid I'll really blow the lid off of everyone's expectations if I talk to Jeong. I realize from what I remember of the game that I'd hate his guts so much he'd be dead in two seconds. Shepard also handed our grenade supply to her when Juliana asked us to bring some grenades with us.

We then walk away from where Jeong and Shepard are throwing metaphorical pies at each other, and then I turn to Juliana.

"What's up?" I ask.

Juliana blinks briefly before resuming her perturbed look. "I'm concerned about the colonists," she says. "I hope you don't plan on killing them."

Liara and I look at each other briefly before turning back to Juliana. "I do not believe we were planning on that, no..." replies the asari first.

"And besides, it's not their fault that ExoGeni decided to do... well, you know..." I reply with a shrug. "If anything, I feel like killing the ExoGeni executives for allowing this to go down as hard as it has."

She nods. "Then please, I think I've found a way to save the colonists," she says. "That's why I need the grenades.."

I nod at this and then present them. "Why?" I ask. "Did you manage to come up with something?"

She nods at this, beginning to tamper with our grenades. "I developed a nerve gas that could be attached," she said. "I had my doubts about some of the things ExoGeni was doing, and I seem to have been right."

I smile at this. "It always pays to be cautious," I reply with a smile.

"So you think this might be able to incapacitate the colonists?" asks Liara.

Juliana nods at this. "Their immune systems are apparently weak," she says. "At least, that's what I can gather from the bits of Lizbeth's research I managed to get my hands on."

Huh, this is different from the game. "You mean you knew something of what the Thorian was?" I ask.

"I knew what it does," replies Juliana. "If I had known ExoGeni was using the colonists as a control group, however, I probably would have taken some kind of action sooner. I sometimes leeched off of what Lizbeth would tell me, anyhow. In hindsight, it was a good idea."

Huh, that detail definitely changed. I know that Jeong was the only one who was supposed to know about the Thorian of the group that had taken refuge in the bunker in the Skyway. That Juliana knew something about the Thorian is a bit of a curveball. That much is for sure. Although, honestly, this is really only the third curveball I've gotten. I'm surprised I haven't run into more curveballs, such as Garrus dying on a mission or something like that. It makes me wonder; how lucky does Shepard have to be?

Well... Nah, luck doesn't figure into it. She's Commander Shepard. In the game, there's the fact that the player character is always more powerful than just about everybody that's around, and that it's always up to the player to do stuff that nobody else feels like doing. And if not, they get the game over screen. It reminds me of when I was playing _God of War 3_, how I kept on failing on a few select fight scenes. But I kept on getting the feeling that Zeus was supposed to fall. So yeah, the player character by a rule is always invincible. And then in real life, she's just... awesome, I guess. Good leader, very charismatic... It's easy to see how she can convince people with so many conflicting interests to stay on the same ship. So she's a natural-born leader. I guess that works to her advantage. She definitely deserves that first human Spectre thing, too.

So, yeah... Games are a weird thing when your protagonist constantly has to win. And then being pulled into one...

Okay, that went way off topic. Back to what we were talking about...

"I am sure it was," replies Liara. "So hopefully this nerve gas will incapacitate them without killing them?"

"That is what I am hoping will happen," replies Juliana as she finishes tampering with our grenades. "Please, save as many colonists as you can."

I nod at this, taking the grenades back as I look to the older woman. Liara speaks up. "I wonder how negotiations with Mr. Jeong are going at the moment..." she comments.

As if on cue, we hear the sound of weapons coming out, and then a loud bang. I flinch as we turn around, Jeong falling to the ground and his gun clattering to the side. I blink as Shepard breathes in and out, the dead man seeming to stare up at the ceiling.

"Well, that answers that question," I comment offhandedly.

"This is a bad sign..." says Juliana. "This could mean that ExoGeni will pull out of the colony."

I blink at this. Okay, well, there's a bright side to all that. "Good riddance, then," I comment. "They better get the fuck out, then. Unless they want to incur the wrath of the populace for using the colonists as a control group without their knowledge and then trying to purge them when that oh-so-unpredictably went awry."

I feel Juliana's glare on my person almost as soon as I get halfway through my thought. Liara seems to disapprove as well. "Art, why the attitude towards ExoGeni?" she asks.

I shrug. "I dunno, Liara," I reply. "I hate it when people think they can just toy with other people in the name of 'something greater'. Whatever the fuck that means to them."

"Still, it is troubling that you hold such a grudge," she says.

I glance up at her, crossing my arms. Lady, when you've grown up with people constantly mocking your voice you learn to hold grudges really well. Especially when it starts fights with people who really should be more mature than that.

"I don't really care," I reply. "Next time ExoGeni gives me a product? I'm not paying for it. It's as simple as that."

"They could have helped the colonists rebuild," adds Juliana. "You won't give them that, at least?"

"Don't feel like it," I reply, shaking my head.

"Odd for such an optimistic one such as yourself," replies the asari.

"Well, what can I say?" I ask. "Uh... _misguided _corporations are one of the things I hate the most in this universe. And usually, they don't get to redeem themselves to me. Even if they do decide to play nice for everybody else. I just don't trust things like that. And I probably never will."

With that, I cross my arms and make it clear that I don't want to talk about the subject any more. As such, the two of them remain quiet as Shepard, Tali, and Kaidan all walk over to us.

* * *

So I handed my grenades to Kaidan and Shepard. They've got better throwing arms, and Kaidan has biotics, so they'll be in better hands to take care of the colonists. So they have the grenades, meaning that Liara, Tali, and I are left to shoot whatever else comes our way. Well, she doesn't think it'll happen quite like that, but I know better.

We're just getting back to Zhu's Hope on the Mako. Ah, dear, another bumpy ride of stuff. I swear, the Mako is like a Vekoma roller coaster. Looks fun to ride in, but when you step in your head bangs against the restraints thus taking all enjoyment out of it. Fucking Vekoma... I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be comparing a free-roaming vehicle to some European roller coaster manufacturer. And yet, here I am.

As I step off the Mako, I feel myself clutching at my head... yet again. Ugh... I swear to god, I am never boarding that thing again. At least, not while I'm around. Especially since demons are all around that thing. Ugh... Oh, great, another tangent that leads to a lyric from _Sweeney Todd_. Fucking...

Anyways, we step out, and there's something lying on the ground. Oh, shit, it's our first Thorian Creeper. It's curled up, grey sickly skin shining... wait, do I even want to _use_ that metaphor? No, it's just fuckin' disgusting. All slimy and shit. And like something straight out of a zombie movie. and that thought is both depressing and disgusting. At the same time, miraculously.

I look down on it as everyone else looks at the object as well. We don't really need to talk to show our confusion over what it is. It's disgusting, it wasn't there before, and it's just sitting there... almost as if it's waiting for us to show up. This is not a good sign.

As we slowly approach it, I take out my pistol. Shit, this thing makes me wary. Shepard gives me a glance that I can tell is reproachful, but I gesture back to the hibernating creeper. I stand back a bit, and let the others approach. Just being overly cautious. I'm just being overly cautious... Yes, that is why my heart is beating at the speed of light and why I'm about ready to sweat enough to fill a whole milking bucket. Yeah, it's just caution. Even though I felt this way with my nightmares about _Paranormal Activity._

And then, the thing jumps up and uncurls itself... And oh God! I always think that it's going to be easier on my eyes since I've seen the goriness in the game. But no, that apparently makes it worse! God... I guess the fact that games are all pixels has something to do with it. This is just... Ew! This is fucking gross! The muscles... Oh, God, this thing was rated M for a reason, wasn't it? Ugh, God...

As it lumbers towards us, we can all see that it means to harm us, as green stuff... No. No. I am not describing it. For the sake of my sanity, I will not! I take my pistol in my hands and fire almost blindly. And... yep, the gunshots are gorier on these things too. Fortunately, Shepard manages to get her gun and fire at the creeper. And then it falls to the ground dead. And that's gory too.

It's too much. I... I can't possibly be expected to...

"Serviceman, are you all right?" asks Kaidan.

I shake my head, moving to the Mako and taking a few deep breaths. "No," I reply. "I'm not used to gore like that..."

"Neither are we," replies the biotic. "What was that?"

"It seems to be a creatue made by the Thorian," says Liara. "We should be careful."

"Right," says Shepard. "Don't shoot the colonists. These will likely be a much greater threat to us anyway."

We all nod at this. Man, I don't think I need extra convincing to do that...

We advance towards Zhu's Hope afterwards. This is not going to go well...

* * *

So Shepard took the initiative to remove one grenade before we enter the colony. We've all agreed that if we see any colonists, we're going to incapacitate them first and then take on the creepers. It's actually a really smart move; get the colonists out of the way so they can't hurt us and we won't accidentally shoot them, and then take out the gore-fest stuff.

All right. Let's do this.

We reenter Zhu's Hope, and almost immediately we come under fire from a group of colonists over to the side. We duck behind cover very quickly, and I actually jump behind cover so hard I feel myself bounce off of it briefly. I look back to Shepard and then to the colonists as Shepard pulls the pin on the grenade and lobs it at the colonists. We wait for a few seconds as I change to a shotgun and we're satisfied when the grenade goes off. I see a gas come out of some color... wait, colored gas, it's toxic! Or, it should be anyway. Whatever it is, it's causing the colonists to slump down unconscious. It... seems to have worked, actually.

All right, colonists saved! Now... to the creepers.

I turn just as a few of them rise. I see one already heading for us. Wait... Oh, shit, there are tons more creepers here than there were in the game! Shit! It's like a miniature army!

Okay, Art, focus. And just pretend this is all pixellated. Okay, yeah, that's it. Pixellated will work.

I bring my shotgun up and start shooting at the Thorian creepers. I manage to shoot one's head off... and for some reason the gore isn't so bad this time aound. I see Tali do the same across the way, with Kaidan firing a biotic singularity into the crowd. All right, I think I can get used to this. Just focus Art. There are lots of creepers, and they won't go down by you thinking about it.

With this, I bring my gun back up and suddenly notice a creeper getting close to us, green vomit already flowing out of its mouth. I shoot it as fast as I am able, but it kind of misses. Fortunately, Shepard had brought out her pistol and was able to finish the thing before it could get to close. All right, no time to dwell on that. I return to the task at hand, seeing another creeper and shooting it as I see a biotic blast get charged from Liara, who is kneeling right next to me. The combined force takes it down.

Wow, I'm getting pretty good at combat. This is most interesting indeed.

Eventually, we manage to thin out the creepers in the room, such that we all manage to finish the last one off. Nodding to each other, we advance in the colony, Shepard preparing another grenade with the gas as we advance along.

After we wander past some part of that downed ship, we hear gunfire and duck down. Oh, hey, my shields depleted somewhat. Right, whatever. Shepard takes a look, and... oh, shit, one of the creepers is already standing up.

I look to Shepard, but she's already throwing the grenade. And if I remember correctly, she's made the right choice seeing as how the anti-Thorian gas is an instant one-hit kill for the creepers as well. If that detail carried over, that is. I'm sure it did, though.

And... I was right; as the grenade goes off, the creeper simply... dissolves? Huh, that's an odd detail. Kind of disturbing, but hey, what can you do? The colonists fall unconscious again, and then more creepers rise up all at once. Hm, I'm sensing a pattern here. The Thorian really is trying to stop us, I see. And it really is pulling all the stops to do so. Sentient plants are wierd like that. Especially when they have mind-control abilities...

Well, it shouldn't be too different from last time. So I bring up my shotgun and shoot a creeper in the head. And it disintegrates pretty quickly. Fun times abound with that, I tell you. Fun times abound. We fire shots and biotic blasts into the creepers, a few get close enough to almost vomit on us, but we manage to hold them back pretty efficiently. One actually managed to vomit close to my foot, but I managed to take it down before much more serious damage could be done.

This... Wow, I never thought I'd find combat enjoyable outside of pushing buttons on an interface. This is an odd feeling I'm getting. Maybe it's because I lose every fight I'm in, but... as I shoot down another creeper, I'm finding myself enjoying this a lot.

After a while, the creepers are thinned out again, and we move out slowly, Shepard preparing another grenade. I can imagine another rinse and repeat scenario here, and sure enough we get fired on by more colonists. We go behind cover and incapacitate the colonists. Yeah, yeah, can we just get to the part where we shoot the creepers?

Oh. Looks like my question was answered. I go off to kill some creepers, and things are all fine and well with that. Although, the fact that I don't find exploding heads disturbing is beginning to get to me. Yeah, this is disturbing. I'm becoming desensitized. This cannot be good for my already sick imagination. Damn the _Saw _franchise to hell!

Right. I shoot some, Shepard shoots some, Tali shoots some, Kaidan shoots and fires singularities, and Liara fires biotic bolts. So yes. This is us. And we're kicking ass.

We find more colonists and creepers a couple more times, but it's pretty much the same thing it's always been. So we just do the same thing again. Disable the colonists, kill the creepers, move on. It's the same thing, really.

Until we come across a crane. Oh, hey, there's a crane. And Creepers running around trying to keep us from getting to it. After Shepard disables the colonists that are there, she looks to me and then to Tali.

"Tali, get that crane activated!" shouted Shepard. "We might be able to make it lift something to go into the Thorian's lair! Art, go with her and cover her! We'll try to keep their numbers low from here!"

Okay, something interesing! I give her a thumbs up sign before turning to Tali. I look at her for a few seconds feeling her tell me to get ready. I take a breath, and nod.

With this, we both spring up from our cover, and we head into the massive army of creepers. We go about shooting the things, with their acid vomit nearly getting all over me quite a few times. It's kind of disgusting that. That much, I will concede. It only makes me happy that this will all be over soon enough. It's slow going to the crate, though, as more creepers just seem to come out of nowhere. These things just keep coming!

Eventually, we make it to the service crane. Tali and I start shooting creepers there, and some get pretty close. Oh, boy, one almost vomited on my leg. Yeah, time to shoot that son of a bitch. I do that, and I look to Tali.

"Get in!" I shout. "I'll cover you!"

The tech specialist nods at this and turns he attention into the crane. She fires off one more shotgun round before she gets into the crane. I step up after her as she closes the door, taking my shotgun as I fire one last round of it into there.

All right, time to pull another death-defying strategy. I store my shotgun, and as a creeper comes forward, I pull my pistol out. It moves to vomit on me, but it's so close I can smack it. So, I do that. Just in time, too, because it was just starting to vomit on me. Some of the vomit gets sent to the side...

And some of it falls right on my armor. And then there's a burning pain on me. Shit, should've remembered that the acid goes right past armor and does damage directly to the person. Ow, fuck! This really hurts! But, I can't let it get to me. Remember your promise to Ash. I bite my lower lip and bring my gun back up there, shooting the thing in the head a few times before it falls.

This gives me a little room to get out my assault rifle as I begin to hear the crane functioning behind me. And with this, I fire both weapons into the crowd. Ugh... if only I had places to lay down heat sinks. Then I'd get to really own these guys like Talahassee in that one part of _Zombieland_ where he takes down an entire legion of zombies from within the confines of a box office in a carnival with only a pair of handguns and ammo that would likely run out fast. That would be fucking awesome. But... I make do with what I have. And that is bringing my assault rifle around in an arc with my right hand, finishing off any stragglers with the pistol in my left. Which, speaking of which, I have to take some getting used to the recoil mid-battle. Definitely not easy, but somehow I manage to do it. This manages to clear the crowd majorly, such that all the creepers are set behind or are caught in the fire from Kaidan, Liara, and Shepard. And that is a good thing.

It is such that I finally hear something get lifted by the crane behind me. Going off on this, I switch out my guns, and suddenly notice that reinforcements stopped coming. I grab my shotgun, and see that there are three enemies there. I grab my shotgun and shoot one in the head. I shoot another in the torso and then the head before a singularity from Kaidan takes care of the last one.

And after this, we all see Fai Dan run over to Shepard. Tali steps out of the crane, but Fai Dan is screaming something about pain and the Thorian and killing Shepard... And as soon as he finishes this, the poor bastard shoots himself in the head!

Whoah! Calm down, Fai Dan! We had gas that we could've used to save you!

"Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!" I shouted, jumping down over the biodegrading creeper corpses as I rushed over to Shepard. Tali followed me quickly, and then we were both by the commander's side.

"He told us he was in great pain," says Kaidan.

"Then why the fuck didn't you use the anti-Thorian gas?" I ask.

"He killed himself before we could bring it up," replies Shepard. "Either way, this is not good. He would have been able to greatly help rebuild the colony after all this."

We all nod our agreement to this statement, and I cross my arms. I look to the side to see the stairwell that Tali undoubtedly uncovered for us, and I gesture to it.

"Should we get going with that?" I ask, pointing at it.

"It's the only thing left to do around here," replies Shepard. "Come on."

With this, we enter the Thorian's lair. All right, this is where things will really go down. We'll kill the Thorian, save Zhu's Hope, and give a massive middle finger to ExoGeni. Really, the sons of bitches deserve it. That they do. And Zhu's Hope will be rebuilt, because we saved all the colonists except for Fai Dan. So there is hope for us yet.

* * *

We climb down a large set of stairs. It's rather long, and it is kind of dark, so we go about slowly. Eventually, we come to a rather large hallway. We're getting close. I can feel it.

As we leave the stairwell, we suddenly see something.

"All right," says Tali. "We just need to find this plant and detemine what it..." And here, we finally see the Thorian. Oh, boy, it's even crazier than seeing its pixellized version. Uh... wow. All those tentacles are rather disgusting, and it's sure as hell not a plant. And yet, it has roots in the walls. Brown roots. Probably since it never gets any sun. Yeah, this is a disturbing plant.

"What it..." continues Tali as we look at it.

"_Keelah,_ what is that?" she asks, the fact that it really is a plant only now managing to sink in.

It's something, Tali. It's something. It looks more like a sheargrub rooted in the walls than anything. Wait... Aw, crap, I found a way to make _Pikmin_ and gore mix together without the usual thinking outside of the cartoony visuals I tend to do with that game. Fuck my life.

Shepard gives it a very wary glance before continuing. "That does not look like any plant I've ever seen," says Shepard. "This may be... problematic."

I nod discreetly at this. Bite down on your lower lip, Art. I'm sure they've heard your voice enough times for one day. Especially a day filled with lots of death and destruction and things that are just too gory for words.

We walk forward a little bit towards the plant, and it starts to... breathe? Okay, this is definitely not like any plant I've ever seen. And something about seeing this in real life is infinitely unsettling. It's a breathing plant, for crying out loud! And it's all brown and stuff, which is usually what we would assosciate with dying plants. Shit, _this_ is what _The Ruins_ should have been about. At least Phelous would have fewer complaints about that movie if it was about the Thorian. It's seriously that creepy.

Oh, and now... oh, dear, it has what I can only call a vagina. Ew. And out of that vagina... it spits something out. Wait... a green-skinned asari clone. Oh, yes, Shiala. It's a little disturbing to see that, really. At least she's fully clothed.

As we step forward, the asari speaks.

"Invaders," she addresses us. Well, that's no way to talk to us! "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe."

I give one glance at the asari. "Oh, I'm in awe all right," I reply. "If by 'in awe', you mean 'creeped out beyond all possible meanings of the word', that is."

"The Thorian will have none of your lip, meat!" says the asari. She doesn't shout it, but... shit, somehow it makes it more threatening.

"Right," I reply, holding my hands up. "Shutting up now."

The others give me a glance, shrugging their agreement. Or, I think it's agreement? I dunno. Either way, it's Shepard's turn to speak.

Shepard is to the point. "You gave something to Saren," she says. "Something I need."

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone," replies the asari clone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend to the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

We all give each other another look, knowing what this means. Typical. I haven't even set my eyes on Saren yet, and I already know his tricks. In my case, it's from playing the game more, though. I mean, before I even entered the picture Saren had killed Nihlus on Eden Prime and sabotaged everything about Shepard's candidacy. Well, at least before we got Tali over to the Council. And then there was the whole Benezia bit. And then there was that one prequel novel where he killed a village full of innocents and then pinned it on then-Spectre candidate Anderson. And the Thorian is sadly only a minor transgression of his. Son of a bitch needs karma to come find him, right now.

Shepard replies in kind. "Give me what I need and I'll strike back at the one who betrayed you," she says.

"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry," replies the asari clone. "Your lives are short, but have gone on too long."

And with this, I hear the sounds of creepers heading to us. As well, the asari clone looks about ready to fight us as her hands glow blue. Oh, yeah, stupid me for forgetting she's a biotic. Wait... that means...

Oh hell no! I am not going to get my ass handed to me the way it was on Noveria. Fuck that!

I grab out my shotgun just as the biotic fires a singularity in Tali's direction. The quarian seems to buckle a little before falling to the ground. Oh, hell no, bitch! You did not just do that!

I rush up to the biotic and whack her in the face with my shotgun. I waste no time, cocking the thing and then shooting a shell directly into her stomach. Okay, don't stop there. She's a clone, it'll take more than one shot. Fortunately, the shell right into the stomach managed to disable the clone, so I aim the barrel at her head and pull the trigger. Okay, yeah, the gore is pretty bad. But hey, what can you do? At least she's dead. That much is for sure.

All right, the biotic is dead. As I see Tali get up, I see a bunch of creepers rush our position. I rush over to the quarian and offer my hand. She very willingly takes it as I fire my shotgun into the crowd of creepers. Kaidan and Liara are going crazy with the biotics here, and Shepard has her assault rifle out, so here we go with taking down the creepers.

And that... is pretty simple. There are about ten creepers swarming us right now. So I go right up to one and melee it before putting a shotgun round in its face. That takes care of that as I see another one run on over. Shepard takes care of one that's running towards me with an assault rifle, the thing going down rather quickly. I see Tali shoot another one with a shotgun, and I add to that with another shotgun blast on my own.

Wow... I'm beginning to feel the kind of rush of battle. Huh. I can see why the Greeks were so anxious during times of war. This rush actually doesn't feel too bad. It's actually rather fun once you can get past the gore factor and everything. It's certainly pretty cool, I guess.

Anyway, creepers arrive. I feel a push by my side, and then I see a creeper get knocked down right next to me. No doubt one of our biotics. I stomp on the thing's face... and find that its head implodes rather easily. Yech. And it's all blood and guts and all that nasty shit outside of my boot. Yeah, battle may be fun, but it's certainly much bloodier than it's portrayed in the game. I mean, true, the creepers completely explode when you kill them in the game, but seeing only parts of them explode is somehow more graphic; especially in real life.

Ah, well. Don't have time to think about that. There's another one right next to me. I cock my shotgun and shoot it, and then a singularity from one of the biotics takes care of it.

Oh, and I see the first alcove where the node is. All right! I think we can figure out how to do stuff to the Thorian! I blast a creeper in the face before jumping to the side to avoid the acid vomit that just then pours out of its mouth. Right. I think I should let them know my intentions.

"Hey, guys!" I shout out. "There's something over here connected to the wall. It looks like it could hurt this thing!"

The crowd is thinning out by now, so then Shepard is able to rush over to my spot as Kaidan follows her. He turns, fires a singularity, and then comes up behind Shepard as they both look on the node. The L2 biotic gives it a brief look before nodding.

"Yeah, that looks like it could hurt it," says Kaidan.

"Right," says Shepard as Tali and Liara both follow, supressing the fire of the creepers behind us. "Look out for more of these things and destroy them."

I nod at this and raise my shotgun. I then fire it once, as Shepard shoots it as well. Kaidan shoots his pistol for the first time I've seen him do it all mission, and then before long we see the node explode in... uh... what the hell is that fluid anyhow? Right, best not to think about it...

As soon as the node... explodes, for a lack of a better term, we suddenly hear something coming from the Thorian itself. As we see a bunch of creepers swarm our position, we hear something fall down.

Oh, great, it spawned another asari clone. Right. Time to take care of it, although I imagine it won't be as easy this time. I turn around as the group heads into a rather long corridor ahead of us. Kaidan also does the same. I look up to him with raised eyebrows.

"Figured you could use the help against the clones," he says.

Oh, well that's always good. "Thanks," I say. I raise my shotgun at this.

All right, there she is. She seems to be readying a biotic attack. Oh, hell no. Not if I can help it, bitch. I fire my shotgun once, but... Oh, shit, that didn't do anything. And then I feel every muscle in my body freeze up against my will. Oh, crap. I fall to the floor after this, immobile. Kaidan, do something! I hear gunshots from right beside me, and a thud. Oh, shit... Wait, Art, calm down, he probably just deposed the clone... Yeah, that's it. He deposed the clone.

I feel feeling return to my limbs, and then Kaidan yanks me up. Oh, shit, the clone is still standing. Shitfucker!

I grab my shotgun and raise it. Almost without aiming, I pull the trigger. I don't know how, but I managed to shoot the clone's head off as Kaidan lifts me off the ground and drags me. I find my foothold on the ground and run after him.

"What the fuck just happened?" I asked.

"You got disabled," he said. "You're lucky I managed to shoot at it. It probably would have done other things as well if I hadn't stepped in!"

"Right," I say, looking back to make sure the clone isn't following us. "Thanks for covering me! It's a bit hard to shoot at stuff when you can't move!"

"Just be careful," replies Kaidan as we rush to where Shepard, Tali, and Liara are. There... wow, the Thorian really isn't holding back. There are creepers absolutely everywhere. Oh, dear, it's almost like a zombie movie, only with a giant plant presiding over everything and not the T Virus or Trioxin or whatever the fuck caused the dead to rise in _Night of the Living Dead_.

Well, there's only one thing to do in a time like this.

Time to nut up, or shut up.

I cock my shotgun and fire at a creeper that is coming up to us. No time to concentrate on anything else. There's only, the zombie horde. I cock my shotgun again, and see a creeper rush up to me. I kick it before firing my shotgun at it. I manage to score a headshot with that as I see a singularity go off pretty close to my location. Thanks... uh... who fired that? Whatever. I cock my shotgun again and turn around. I see a creeper rushing up behind Kaidan. Not on my watch, bitch! I shoot the zombie in the chest with the shotgun, and it seems to coil back. Kaidan hears it, and grabbing his pistol he turns and fires at it with alarming speed. That takes care of that creeper.

And yet there are lots more coming where that came from. Kaidan and I seem to be left behind just a little bit. I can see Tali rushing to try to help us out, and so I try to thin the crowd out to get her to us. That... seems to work, actually. As I fire my shotgun into the crowd, I see the quarian rush over to meet us in the middle. She's firing her own shotgun as well, and I can feel some of the fire fly right past my ears. Okay, that could be troublesome. But hey, at least she isn't intending to hit me.

After a few seconds of me trying to clear the crowd, she finally joins us. And then, I see creepers all around us. I go crazy with the shotgun, firing it into the crowd of creepers and cocking it pretty much every time. I see a biotic singularity go off every so often as Kaidan, Tali, and I thin out the crowd. Somewhere, I can hear Liara and Shepard doing stuff, but I imagine their priority is getting over to the next node. Which they haven't quite done. So w begin to clear the room of all Thorian creepers as quickly as we can. It's... a pretty long process, but hey, what can you do?

We finally begin to make headway when I notice the crowd begin to dissipate. I remember deciding to forego the shotgun the rest of the way. Instead, I pulled out my assault rifle while kickin away a creeper. I then remember holding the trigger down for quite some time, the creepers getting caught up in sweeping fire. They don't go down as easily, but Tali catches on and starts firing her shotgun into the ones that I'm spraying with fire. Kaidan is right behind us, shooting and firing various biotic attacks at the other creepers in the area. And... well, if they get close enough, I just kick them. There was one that I kick that just explodes, leaving me dazed before I snap back into it with the sound of gunfire next to me. And so, I take my assault rifle and fire rounds into every other creeper.

And with this, the crowd eventually thins out as to be nonexistent, such that I can see Shepard has already found the next node. Tali takes care of one remaining creeper with her shotgun, and then we rush up to Shepard.

"We should be careful," I say almost as soon as I'm next to Shepard. "This thing will spawn another asari clone when you destroy this node."

Shepard nods, and continues firing into the node. Once it is destroyed, we hear a huge groan sound in the area, and then we hear a bunch of creepers come to life elsewhere.

"Get ready!" shouts Shepard, and we ready our weapons. I swap out my assault rifle for my shotgun, reloading quickly and looking out to see the asari clone rushing towards us. We also see the next crowd of creepers approaching us from there. I think I know what we're doing here.

And when Shepard gives the order to fire at will into the crowd, I happily oblige.

* * *

Okay, two nodes later and we're still going strong. We're ridiculously awesome, to quote a certain elf from Antiva. We've taken down a lot of creepers, kept some from vomiting on us, and taken down every asari clone that the Thorian has thrown at us. Oh, and we've taken down four of the five nodes needed to finally defeat this thing.

And so, we go into the room with the last node. I see the asari clone... in a different spot from where she was in the game, and there are no places that any creepers can possibly come from in front of us. So, I look to the clone as the others begin to flank the entrance. Shepard gives a look back and gestures to the clone as she fires off a biotic attack at the creeper crowd.

I nod at this, and hold my shotgun in front of me as the clone comes forward. I see her flash her hands, and... wait, is she telegraphing? Oh, shit!

I manage to jump to the side. Barely. I feel a warp bolt fly right past me as I look over. I cock my shotgun and fire, the bullet barely grazing the clone. Oh, dear. I roll out of the way of the next biotic attack. Personally, I don't know how the hell I'm managing this. I really don't. I quickly stand back up, only to fall back to the floor to dodge an attack. Ah, well, at least I'm on my stomach this time. This gives me good room to push off. So I do that, knowing I should stay away from the edge. I rush past the... er... root of the Thorian, ducking behind the node just as another warp bolt is headed in my direction.

And... the warp bolt hits the node. Well, there's no friendly fire protection in real life. It works both ways, bitch. I could just finish the node off, so I'll go ahead and try that.

I fire the shotgun into the node, and... it's still intact. Damn it! I can see the Thorian slowy begin to slide off, though, almost as if it's barely hanging on. It's having a hard time hanging on as it is, I imagine; now that it's only hanging on by one damaged root, I'm surprised it's standing as long as it has. Well, another shotgun round should do it.

And no sooner do I think this when I suddenly feel myself fly into the wall. I'm so shocked by it my shotgun clatters to the ground. I fall to the ground when this occurs, and... shit, must get shotgun! I grip my gun in my hands, and then I feel myself get lifted away again. Without thinking, though, I pull the trigger on my shotgun. And I don't know what the hell is going on... except...

Oh, shit, I'm gonna fly right over the edge! Fuck!

On instinct, I let go of my shotgun as I fly over the edge. I then see the root that the Thorian is holding on to. I take a hold of it to keep myself from falling out. Yes, falling out at this stage would be extremely bad. Shit... I'm dangling over here. I could just die, but then I wouldn't get to save Ash. So, no. I won't die just yet, thank you. I see the green-skinned clone peer over the edge, and I know I have to kill it. And so I grab my pistol as my shotgun clatters right by where the first asari clone was... well, birthed, I guess... And I don't even think about it before I aim.

Somehow, I get a perfect headshot right between the eyes. The clone falls down over the edge, and its body falls by the floor. It's not moving. At all. That should be a good sign, except that I'm still hanging on for dear life here! Shit!

I hear the sounds of gunfire die down ever so slowly in that corridor where I was attempting to kill the clone. Next thing I know, I see Kaidan peering over the edge. He looks back and shouts to Shepard, and the commander is looking at me as I carefully store my pistol back. Oh, dear. Trying to holster a pistol is not fun...

"I could use a little help here!" I cry out.

"I'm getting on it!" shouts Shepard in reply. "Just hang tight!"

Oh, great pun, Shepard. Great pun. "I already am!" I shout. "Move it!"

And I hang on to the Thorian root for dear life. Oh, dear, I really hope the thing can hold before Shepard can find a way to save me. I'm not dying on these guys just yet, after all. Just hang in there, Art. Things should be all right. They should be all right.

I look up to Shepard, and then down just below. Nothing there. I look back up to Shepard as she seems to gesture to me. Oh, dear, I have to climb? Well... I can't come up with a better option other than falling to my death, so...

Here goes.

Gathering all of my willpower, I slowly begin to crawl up. Okay. One arm up slightly. The other arm up slightly. Step up as well. Okay, move your arms again. And your feet. And your arms. And don't look down! I clench my eyes tightly as I move, not daring to see the ground below me. And as I do that, I slowly move one arm in front of the other repeatedly. You can do this, Art. You can do this. Move your arms. Then your legs. Arms. Legs.

Eventually, I suddenly realize that the root is... well, I'm not sure what it's doing. I know it's doing something, though. I open my eyes, and suddenly I find myself very close to where Shepard is. I stop briefly, surprised at this. I almost lose my grip on the root right then and there, barely able to believe my eyes. I pause there, and look to Tali and Liara, who are also standing by. I decide not to ask where Kaidan is. I imagine he's probably downstairs waiting to use a biotic levitation thing in case I lose my grip. Good thinking there, Shepard.

You're so close, Art. You can do this.

I bring my arms forward a little, and then bring my legs forward. I bring my arms forward one last time, and then Shepard manages to touch my forearm. I hear her voice encouraging me, although I can't make out words. Whatever. I feel her guide me along the root as I begin to get back onto solid ground. After around a minute of this, she manages to grab a hold of my shoulders, and then I feel myself get pulled in. I let go, and then I fall on my back onto solid ground just a few feet under me. I hear myself pant as Shepard lifts me to my feet.

"Are you all right, Serviceman?" asks Shepard.

I take a moment to breathe in and out slowly. I really need a breather after that. I mean, I was just hanging on for dear life, and now that I'm safe... I feel an odd tingling in my arm and legs. Probably from hanging on so tight. Shit... I need to gather my bearings. At least the creeper crowd doesn't have any more soldiers. I collect myself after about a minute and a half, and I nod.

"I'll live, at any rate," I reply. "Get that node destroyed."

Shepard nods to Kaidan as he enters the chamber we are at. The biotic takes out his assault rifle and aims at the node. He then fires a few rounds into the node, causing it to excrete its fluid again. And then, the root disconnects. There is a mighty reverberation in the air all around us, and then the ground beneath me shakes a little as the root begins to slide away. I watch, keeping my distance. I'm not gonna be taken by this Thorian thing.

There is a great crumbling beneath us. The level of noise here is great, so much so that I find myself covering my ears. Most of the rest of the quad has the same idea, although there isn't much Tali can do about that what with being in an enviro-suit. And so, the great noise passes as the root disappears from view incredibly fast. We hear it crash through a lot more things, and then the noise stops very slowly. Uncovering my ears, I move as close to the ledge as I dare.

Wow, it's a long way down now. The floor that the Thorian once stood over is now pretty much completely gone. Now, a black expanse meets my eyes where the plant creature thing once hung over. It's... pretty daunting, honestly. I'm the furthest away from the edge, actually; I'm not gonna risk falling over. We peer at this before finally walking away from the edge.

We look back to see a rather odd growth on the side of the wall. It's kind of reddish, but it looks like a remnant of the Thorian. After a few seconds, the red flesh dissolves, and then we see an asari fall out. Like the clones, but without the green skin. Actually, almost exactly like the clones, but without the green skin. She gives us slightly bewildered looks as we stand there.

Well... she definitely looks dizzier than she does in the game, that's for sure.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask.

The asari is quick to regain her composure though, and addresses me.

"I am feeling a little odd, but other than that I think I will be fine," says the asari. "Thank you for your concern, young one."

I nod in acknowledgement. Hm. Shiala is a really nice lady. I'll have to hope she lives.

"Who are you?" asks Shepard, getting more or less straight to the point. "And what were you doing in there?"

"I am Shiala," replies the asari. "I was a biotic in Benezia's service. I came with her when she went to confront Saren. We both came under the control of Sovereign."

"We ran into Benezia on Noveria," says Shepard, nodding. "She told us that his ship... indoctrinated her. She was able to free her mind from his control to tell us this, and give us the coordinates of a relay that Saren was looking for." That, and to give me the mystical orange paperweight that I still have no clue what it's supposed to do. But I digress.

"You did?" asks Shiala, her expression rising in anticipation. "Is she..."

I shake my head. "Unfortunately, no," I reply. "She's..." I turn to Liara, who's nodding softly. "She's dead, Shiala. It's a damn shame, too."

The biotic nods. "I see..." she says. "She probably could not have survived the indoctrination without dying first."

"Except something doesn't add up," points out Tali. "If you were indoctrinated... then why aren't you trying to kill us?"

Well, Tali... "I think the Thorian may have had something to do with it," replies Shiala. "Saren came here to find the Cipher. To get it, I had to bond with the Thorian. Somewhere in that bond, the Thorian took control and overrode Sovereign's indoctrination. And when you destroyed the Thorian..."

We see where this is going. I nod, although I'm not sure this was the explanation given in the game. Either way, it doesn't change what happened. "I see..." says Tali as she crosses her arms.

"The Cipher?" asks Shepard. "What is that?"

Shiala looked out to where the Thorian once hung in the ruins. "The Thorian was alive for many Prothean generations," she said. "I understood from Saren that there was a beacon on Eden Prime."

"Yes," replies Shepard, nodding. "I got a vision when I touched it, too. I couldn't make any sense of it."

"I would not be surprised," replies Shiala. "The beacons were engineered to work with a Prothean mind. Any other species would percieve it as something unintelligible. To make sense of it, one has to know how to think like a Prothean."

"And I'm guessing that's where the Cipher comes in," I comment, holding my hands together behind my back.

"Yes," replies the biotic as she looks back at us. "The Cipher was essential for Saren to understand the vision from the beacon on Eden Prime. The Thorian studied the Protheans, thus forming the Cipher. He used me to get what the Thorian wanted, and then tried to kill it."

Shepard nods, a frown coming across her face. "I take it he knows we're trying to find the Conduit?"

"Yes," replies Shiala. "I still have the Cipher imprinted into my mind, however. I can give it to you."

Shepard nods. "We need to find the Conduit," she replies, stepping forward. "Any help we can get to unscramble the image would be welcome."

Shiala regards this with a cool expression. "Very well," she says, stepping forward. "Relax. Breathe in and out slowly."

Kaidan looks to the rest of us leerily. I can't say I blame him; I'm one of the few who _doesn't _think girl on girl action is hot. Well, that, and I think I know how he feels about that. I shrug to him as Shiala rambles on and on about stuff that a yoga instructor would be talking about.

"_Let her,_" I mouth to him. "_We might not find the Conduit otherwise._"

He nods and backs away. At this moment, I turn to Shiala just as her eyes go expressionless.

"Embrace eternity," she says.

And Shepard is stock still as... well, something goes on. Really, I don't know what's so special about the whole "embrace eternity" business anyhow. It just doesn't look as flashy without the odd, schizophrenic camera angles. It just doesn't. Ah, well, what can I do?

Shepard stumbles back when the deed ends. She brings her hand to her head, and instantly Kaidan is by her side. Well, I guess that telegraphs stuff. He really does seem to care about her in a more than just Commandery way.

"I'm fine, Kaidan," says Shepard. "The vision... it's still a little scrambled, but it's clearer now."

"I may be able to help unscramble it during the debriefing," says Liara as she looks to Shepard.

"That could be useful," replies the commander. "I'm sure it will take a little time, too."

Shiala looks to us. "In the meantime, there is just one more matter on my mind," she says. "My fate. You are working against Saren, no doubt."

I give her an odd look as soon as she finishes saying that. "Who said we're trying to kill everyone who serves Saren?" I ask.

Kaidan nods in agreement. "The Serviceman is right," he says. "I think it's pretty obvious she isn't under Saren's indoctrination."

Shepard looks back at Shiala. "What would you do if I spared you?" she asks.

"Help Zhu's Hope rebuild, of course," replies the biotic. "I imagine they must have taken the brunt of what I assume was a pretty bad geth attack. They could use all the help they can get."

Shepard nods. "Very well," she says. "I'll spare your life."

Shiala nods, having seemed to expect this. Or that she accepts it: I never killed her off, but I heard that if you do kill her she's all 'well, all right'. "Thank you," she says. "Let us get back to the surface."

"Yeah, let's," I comment as we begin to leave. "I've had enough of sentient mind-control plants to last me a lifetime."

Shepard chuckles and shakes her head. "You and me both, Serviceman," she says. "You and me both."

And with this, we exit the Thorian's lair.

* * *

We ran into Juliana and Lizbeth pretty soon after we exited the Thorian's lair. Juliana has a smile on her face.

"You saved the colony," she says. "And with the work that you've done for us, we should be able to rebuild very easily."

"We did what we could," replies Shepard with a nod. "Will you survive without ExoGeni there?"

The woman nods. "I'm sure we will," she says. "Either way, Lizbeth and I will be staying to help bring the colony back on its feet, without ExoGeni."

"Good," I reply curtly. "ExoGeni seemed to be doing more harm than good from the looks of things."

The others begrudgingly agree to this, although I think Shepard is most grudging of all. Can't say I blame her. If we had managed to talk Ethan down, ExoGeni would've helped the Feros colony get back on its feet. Unfortunately, it seems like Jeong was a little too trigger-happy for us.

Oh well. You can't have everything.

"Very well then," replies Shepard. "I think our business is done here."

"Thank you for everything," says Juliana.

We nod at this. "It was no trouble," replies Shepard. She turns to us as she says this. "Come on guys. Back to the Normandy."

And without question, we turn and head over to the Normandy. As I move along, I wonder. What would have happened if ExoGeni wasn't participating in amoral scientific experiments. I may never know the answer to that, other than things likely would have turned out very differently for us. I dunno. It's just... something about the whole secrecy of it bothers me. Especially how they covered everything.

I think the "this is black" analogy couldn't fit anything else better. It's secretive, it's amoral, it uses innocent bystanders who have no idea what the hell is going on to them... what else could I ask for?

Ah, I'm thinking too hard again. And now my head hurts.

Right. I'm going off to debriefing, and then I'm going off for movie night. It's Garrus' turn this time, and I'm sure he'll whip up something interesting, to say the least. We'll have to see what happens.


	10. Chapter 9

_A/N: Okay. Last time, we killed the Thorian. I dunno about you, but the creepers remind me too much of zombies for comfort. Ah, whatever. You can't have everything, right? All though, I did reference four zombie movies at one point, almost right after the other. If you can figure out the references, shoot a PM my way and let me know. If you get it right? Cookies! If not? Well... Nice try anyhow._

_So, where does that leave our intrepid hero? Back on the Normandy, of course. Here we go._

* * *

Chapter 9: Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Okay, debriefing went rather well. I got called out again for talking too much (and especially for my language in referring to the guys at ExoGeni), but hey, I talk too much by nature. Which is odd, because when I have to concentrate, I'm usually extremely adamant about people keeping their mouths shut.

Ah, whatever. Things are all fine and good otherwise. What now...

Oh, yes. Movie night with Garrus. He picked out this turian vid all right. It's a fantasy vid; apparently, turians have their own mythology. That is totally fucking awesome, especially since there is an entire fantasy setting that can be created out of that. Especially since I'm a sucker for fantasy. And sci-fi, but I think I'm already in enough of a sci-fi setting already, so fantasy will have to do.

And apparently it involves a war between two gods. I wonder if a man with blades attached to chains is going to be there? Ah, well, I can dream about the possible _God of War_ vibes I'll be getting if that kind of character does show up, but I think it's highly unlikely. But still, a war between two gods... I actually want to talk to Garrus a little bit.

And speaking of which... There he is, getting the movie ready. He looks up at me, and I smile, sifting a hand through my now free hair as I nod.

"Hey, Detective Vakarian," I greet him.

One of his mandibles twitches before he continues working with his omni tool. "You know I hate it when you call me that, Mr. Squarepants," he replies.

I still-

Wait.

"You did not just go there," I state, pointing my finger at him.

"I did," replies Garrus, feigning innocence.

My good mood instantly evaporates. "Well, I hate it even more when you call me after old cartoon characters," I reply. "So much I might consider stabbing your eye out with a mess utensil."

Garrus chuckles. We both know I won't be able to do that since it's technically impossible and I wouldn't have the guts. "I can't wait to see the day," he replies, multi-tonal voice betraying amusement.

I cross my arms as I look at him. "How the fuck do you know what _Spongebob Squarepants_ is, anyway?" I ask.

"Joker told me," he replies. "All he told me was that it was about a little man who lives in a pineapple under the sea..."

"An anthropomorphic sponge, if you must know," I reply, shrugging. He turns to me with a rather curious look on his face. "I know. That's... partly why the character is so annoying to listen to."

"Right..." says Garrus as he looks back down on his omni tool. "I'm afraid to know what most Earth children's programming is like."

Oh dear, Garrus. "I think most of it is pretty shitty these days," I reply tersely. It's true; children's programming has gotten progressively worse, and if it kept on getting worse than it was in 2010, I'm afraid of how much my brain would melt at the sight of children's programming today. "But then again, I'm older than that. So... I'm not sure we're even the right judges of that stuff."

Garrus nods at this. "Fair enough," He replies, and suddenly I see the vid menu for the vid he's playing for us tonight. I look over and see a turian in some rather odd kind of armor while holding a spear. I raise my eyebrow as Garrus comes to stand next to me, admiring his handiwork. I'm just taken by how... er... _revealing _that armor is. It looks even... well, more revealing than the armor typically depicted in ancient greek vases. Like, there's the skirt there, and there are greaves, but... there's no chest plate or helmet. I guess the shield is pretty large, though.

But there's something else about that warrior. His facepaint projects over some kind of whiteness that overtakes his whole being... It's like he's covered in ashes...

"What's the warrior there?" I ask. "And what's up with his coloration?"

Garrus nods at this. "He's a legendary turian hero in these things," replies Garrus. "The two gods were at war. And he was the one who ended up getting caught in it all. But when he did, he also came to serve under one of them. And so, he-"

"Oh, dude, Garrus, spoiler alert, _please_," I say, cutting him off. "I'm of the kind that doesn't like to have his movies spoiled before he walks into them. Even if I'm already sure he's going to kill the other god."

The turian seems surprised at this, and his posture... seems to indicate that, I guess. To another turian, anyway. "You're not so bad at guessing things," he says.

I shrug. "Heroes work the same way in some human cultures, it seems," I reply. "In some of our ancient mythologies the heroes overcome everything. Although, I've yet to see one where they killed a god."

Garrus nods at this. "I see," he says. "But he's like that as a mark that he was a chosen one."

And it's then that I notice that his facepaint is red. Huh, the turians have their own Kratos in the _Mass Effect _universe. Very interesting. Kratos is covered in ash, has a red tatoo on his head and body, and goes around without even wearing a shirt. This turian hero is almost exactly like that. It looks like turian and human cultures are closer than we like to think.

"I'm guessing it's also personal for him," I add.

"No," says Garrus. "He's pretty... well, hungry for glory. So much so that it gets annoying at some points."

"I see," I reply, nodding, feeling the anticipation rise. "Well, I dunno what to tell you, Garrus. I really, really can't wait to see what this vid is all about. I've always been a sucker for fantasy, see."

"I can see that," he replies. "Good to know at least you'll like this. I'm not sure if anybody else will. It is pretty bloody, especially for a turian vid."

I raise my eyebrows. "I see," I say. "I guess that would raise a few eyebrows. But sometimes human vids can be pretty bloody, too. I don't think you need to look past the exploding bodies in _District 9 _for proof of that."

"That's true," Garrus admits. "But for some, it might be a bit much. Especially for Liara."

I snort at this. "Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, Garrus, she's 106, her mother is dead, and she shot zombie creatures with biotic warps," I reply. "She'll be fine."

Garrus nods. "I hope you're right," he says.

Oh, come on, it's just a fantasy vid about two gods and a war where one god eventually gets itself killed. The _God of War_ series was pretty bad with the gore (especially with Helios getting his head ripped off in part three), so how bad could this be?

* * *

Well, it certainly wasn't bad at all. It was actually not that bad a movie.

It was honestly pretty gory, but fortunately it was nowhere near as bad as it can get that I've seen. At any rate, it actually didn't seem to relish in the gore all that much. In fact, it seemed as if it tried to shy away from it. Something about it was a little skeptical, and yet all the scenes were played pretty straightforwardly. This is a bit of a jarring transition, I should think, and it took me out of the vid once. But it certainly wasn't bad; it was honestly a very emotional production and I kind of liked it.

As well, there was the fact that the character was part of some group... I don't remember what they were called. But they seem to operate a lot like Grey Wardens to me. Odd; I'm wondering a Bioware property, and I'm mentioning another Bioware property in relation to something within the Bioware property. This is a little confusing indeed. But still, it was fun to see that. I rather liked this turian vid.

Wrex seemed totally into it, too, especially during the action scenes. I guess he must have felt pretty dirty afterwards, what with not liking turians and all. Liara... didn't seem taken by it. Most of the rest of the human crew liked it, and Tali... Well, I don't know what she thought of it. I guess I could just ask her later, but I don't really feel like it now.

As for Garrus... well, I think he likes it. He wouldn't have shown us otherwise. I actually am sticking around the rec room a little bit. By now, Garrus and I are the only ones in there, and I'm sitting on one of the couches as he works with the omni tool.

"So I take it you liked it," says Garrus to start.

"It was certainly interesting," I reply. "Especially with getting used to the whole 'turian mythos' bit. It reminds me of a story I heard once back home that was overly similar to this. Two, actually."

One of the turian's mandibles seems to relax as he finishes with the omni tool. "Really?" he asks.

I nod. "Turian and human stories are more similar than we like to think," I reply. "Actually, I think we can all tell how similar various cultures are by looking at their stories."

"A very... interesting look," says Garrus. I sense the skepticism in his voice, though. "It's not one many turians would take to, I imagine. I'm sure a lot of us are still angry over the Contact War."

Oh, dear. I knew this would be brought up sooner or later. "I'll bet they are," I reply. "They really got their asses handed to them by the council after the fact."

Garrus shrugs. "What makes most of us angry is how you guys are getting away with it," replies Garrus with a gesture of his talon. "Ever since you were seen by the council you've gotten all kinds of colonization rights that have been leading you all over the galaxy. And then there's the Systems Alliance..."

I make a hand gesture. "Well, let's not forget that the turians started this by refusing to talk to us," I point out.

He looks at me, and I can sense some kind of injury in his pride. Wait... Garrus, the unusual turian, taking offense?

"Easy for you to say," he replies. "When humans were activating the mass relays without realizing what could lay behind them."

Hm. Turian pride really is a lot stronger than I think it is.

I shrug as I stand up. "True," I reply. "But that's not an excuse to start firing. Perhaps you guys should've thought about how naive we were before you opened fire. Seriously, if I was born forty years earlier the history books would not have told us of the Rachni wars. We had no way of knowing that, and I'm pretty sure that if we had been talked to first it would have made things much better for both of us."

Garrus, surprisingly, nods. "That sounds reasonable," he says. "Although... I don't know who fired the first shot in the Relay 314 incident, so we can't continue on that..."

I nod. "You know what makes things like this so great?" I ask. All right, time to quote Alistair on this one. "It's that it brings people together into one big, happy family. And it mends race relations too, while we're at it."

The C-Sec officer chuckles at this. "You know, when you put it that way, it sounds great," he says. "I never thought I would be serving on an Alliance vessel with humans, but here I am. We are a pretty odd crew."

Oh, boy, Garrus. "You have no idea," I reply, shaking my head. "We're far more diverse than some of us are really willing to admit." And that will only get worse later, I believe. Man, the crew of the Normandy SR-2 is really messed up...

We both begin to leave the rec room. "I can imagine," he says. "It's certainly been interesting being around some of the people of this crew. It is certainly different from what I've had before."

I smile at this. "Different is good," I reply. "There's a human saying that 'variety is the spice of life'. Without differences, life wouldn't be interesting, you know?"

"I can definitely see why you think that," says Garrus as we reach the elevator. "I guess I'll see you around. I have some more calibrations I need to do on one of my guns."

I nod. We've barely even reached the second game and he's _already_ talking about calibrations? Dear lord... "All right," I say. "Nice talking with you, Garrus."

"Same here," says the turian as the elevator comes up. The doors close behind him, and he descends.

Hm. I'm becoming rather attached to these characters. And here I thought I had already done enough attachment thanks to the game. But I guess this one is entirely different. It's one thing to look at them as they interact with a player avatar. Here... it's completely different. They're interacting directly with you. And that is rather fun in its own right... It's definitely different from just seeing them. I don't know what about it is so different, but somehow it's just more invigorating.

And I'm getting attached to them. This isn't going to make dying on Virmire any easier, it seems... Ah, well. I think I'll have plenty of time to say goodbye when the time comes. And I know I'll miss them. And while they can't talk to me, I can always refer to Youtube videos and the game itself so I can remember all these guys. I'll have fond memories of them all, that much is for sure.

For now, I should get to bed. And I do that, heading to my quarters and going to sleep almost as soon as my body hits the mattress.

* * *

So we're heading to the Citadel now to take care of a few things. I don't think I'll get off unless plans change a little. Not like I'll mind, really. It'll give me time to catch up on a lot of things. Although, I really should find an instrument to get back into the groove with. Nah... I really shouldn't. I'll be out of the ME universe before long anyhow, so it won't be worth it to spend a few credits on an instrument that I'll be leaving behind anyway. If my memory serves me correctly, this will probably be when she gets the sidequest rush done. And then after that, we'll head for Virmire.

It won't be long before I have to start saying goodbye. Jeez, where did all the time go? I knew it would last a little longer than a final total of three days when all the sidequests are done, but still, where has all the time gone? Seriously, time goes so quickly around here it's ridiculous! These few weeks in the Mass Effect universe really are going to have an impact on the rest of my life, I'm sure. Maybe I'll write some character pieces for piano on each one of these guys after I get back. That'll be fun to see reactions to. Especially from my teachers.

Ah, well, I'll think about all that later. For now, there's me running on the treadmill to think about.

Or, not. As I run on the treadmill, I see Kaidan enter the room, looking at me with a rather suspicious expression on his face. I look over to him from the treadmill and nod. Huh, this is new. I've been going to everyone else thus far. A crew member coming to me? Aw, thanks Kaidan. I feel special!

"Hey Kaidan," I say.

"Hey, Art," he says, and I notice a purpose in his step. "I wanted to ask you something."

I look at him as I continue running. "Sure, what's up?" I ask.

The biotic nods before crossing his arms in front of him. "I noticed yesterday at Feros that you were overly disgusted with ExoGeni," he says.

I nod. "Who wouldn't be?" I ask. "They were using humans as a control group without their knowledge. That's just wrong, especially given what they were trying to prove. Why do you ask?"

Kaidan looks over to me and uncrosses his arms, preferring to put them behind his back. "I don't know," he says. "This may be just a feeling, but I thought there was a point where it seemed as if... and I know this is probably crazy... but it seemed as if you knew that ExoGeni was doing this beforehand."

Oh, crap. He caught on it seems. Oh, well. Well, Kaidan, I can tell you you're not really all that crazy, but I'm not going to tell you that. And... well, I can't just wave him off and tell him I'd rather not talk about it 'cause that'll just tip him off that something's not right. Hey, Zathriel did the same thing when I did the _Nature of the Beast_ quest in my first playthrough of _Dragon Age. _So it came as no surprise to find out that he was the one who originally made the curse. So I can't just wave them off. I'll work around it.

I look down at him briefly before stopping the treadmill. My feet rest on the sides as the conveyor belt slows to a stop. Eh, I was almost done with my running routine for the day anyhow. A few seconds won't make me gain a few pounds.

"It probably is crazy," I reply. "It probably isn't. But what I can tell you is that I knew as much as you did going in there."

Kaidan nods at this. "I just wanted to make sure," he says. "It's just... I have this odd feeling about you. Like something's off about you."

Oh, yeah, he's definitely suspicious. "Why?" I ask, holding my arms out as I step off the treadmill.

"Well, it just seems strange to me that you wind up on the Citadel on a stimulant trip a few days before you find us," he says. "I find it even stranger that you'll help us go around without going to your friends or even attempting to contact them first."

Oh. Yeah, I guess that would be suspicious behavior. "Well, they haven't contacted me either," I point out with a hand gesture. "I mean, they probably lack the means to do so, but... well, you know how everything is when all your friends' contact info is saved onto a terminal somewhere and you can't access it. I'm not so good with memorizing contact information, you see." Mainly because I don't have anybody's contact info except for the stuff on my cell phone, but you don't need to know that.

Kaidan nods. "Fair enough," he says. "But still, there's the stimulant trip. Very few people your age ever survive one of those kinds of trips that you had, and far fewer manage to get back into taking a stimulant trip without relapsing into addiction at some point. Somehow, you're the only person I know that's done both."

I shrug. "There's an exception to everything," I comment. "I guess I'm just lucky to have survived. As for the relapse, yeah, Chakwas mentioned that too. But seriously, after the hallucinations I had there..." I shake my head at this. "I'm not sure I would ever want to do it again after that. And especially with this. I... I do kind of feel the urge still, but you know how it is..." Now I just have to make sure I don't actually take any and I'll be fine.

The biotic raises his eyebrow before sitting down on a machine that's nearby. "Should you join some kind of support group?" he asks. "That could make it easier."

I roll my eyes at this. "Why would I need a support group?" I ask, looking around the room. "I've got you guys to talk to. I dunno about you, but somehow being on the Normandy for so long is beginning to make me feel like we're all part of one big happy family. You know?"

He gives me a sidelong glance, his eyes filled with curiosity. He rubs his chin, and then nods, a smirk coming to his face. "Well, when you put it like that..." he said. "It's true. You can tell us everything, and we can trust you."

And almost immediately I feel a pang of guilt. Here he is telling me I can trust him, and here I am just completely bullshitting him. It's not fair, but he'll think I'm mad if I tell him the truth. It's a sad dilemma, really. And honestly, I can see it biting me in the ass one of these days. Somehow, I just know it will, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Ah, well. Since there's nothing I can really do about it, I'll just roll with the punches.

"Of course," I reply with a smile. Something about my own smile just doesn't feel right, though. Probably the guilt. "I don't think you have anything to fear anyways. I'm competent enough, right?"

Kaidan nods. "Yes, you are," he says. "No, I just wanted to ask. I'm sorry if I intruded in your personal space."

I shake my head, holding my hands behind me. "It's no trouble," I reply. "At any rate, I can see why you'd be a little skeptical."

"Yeah," he says as he begins to leave. As he approaches the door, he stops, and turns over to me. "Oh, Art?"

Oh, dear, another question? "Yes?" I ask.

"Well..." And immediately, I think I know what this is about. "There's this girl I like... And... I was wondering... well, you know... how I should approach her... It's just... I'm nervous about rejection... and..."

I stand there for a few seconds as I regard Alenko. Even I'm not prepared for how loud my laugh in response to this is. Jeez! He's asking _me _for romantic advice?

"What's so funny?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Kaidan, if there's one thing you must know about me, it's that I am the absolute _worst_ person to ask when it comes to love," I reply. "I've had a lot of crushes on women, but they either left or got taken before I could act on it. Trust me, I'm the _worst_ person to ask that to."

The biotic blinks. "Right," he says. "I'll keep that in mind then. Uh... wow, the entire Normandy isn't being especially helpful with that... I'll just go..."

My expression turns serious as I turn to him. Well... There is one thing I can tell you. If you are getting into a romance with Shepard... "It doesn't mean I can't try, though," I reply, smiling. "Just be yourself. Eventually things will work out once she catches on. Alliance regs or no."

He nods, and his disposition is considerably brighter. "I'll keep it in mind," he says. "Thanks, Art."

"No problem, Kaidan," I reply with a smile.

And with this, he leaves the gym. And it leaves me to think a little. If things were different. I just wish they were right now. I wonder what happened to my body back there. Did I die? Did I go into a coma? Maybe this is all taking place in one split second and I'll be on the floor of the conservatory when I return to my universe. Who knows? Either way, this will be a wild ride to the end.

I look around the room and head over to an excercise machine. Time to do some abs.

* * *

A little later, I wander around the Normandy. I'm prone to doing that it seems. I wandered around engineering and talked with Tali for a bit before walking around. Tali's a real sweetheart. I guess the fact that she's the first canon character I've met in the ME universe helps things, but she's still a very kind soul if there ever was one. I'm actually beginning to like her...

Wait... I feel a little odd thinking of a pixellated character like that. But it's not pixellated right now. So... I guess I don't really have much of a choice. But Tali is seeming to like me as a friend as well. Which is good, considering how our friendship started. Now that was a bit rough. But hey, I saved her life by it, so I still did good by her. So yeah. That's all fine and well I suppose.

I'm wandering around the Mako actually, when I notice Wrex standing there. I acknowledge his presence and go straight to him.

"Heyo, Wrex," I say brightly.

"Oh, hello again," he says. "Going about the ship without any direction again, I see..."

I shrug. "Hey, I'm prone to doing it when I'm bored," I reply. "That, and I think a lot. It helps pass the time sometimes. Remind me to tell you of that one time I showed up to a viola lesson an hour early. Now _there_ was a train of thought I won't be forgetting any time soon."

Wrex nods. "I see," he says. "Next you're going to be linking my armor to your mother somehow."

I blink at this, raising one of my eyebrows. After a brief second, though, I give a hand gesture. "If I did, I honestly wouldn't be surprised," I say. "Just thinking of a phrase can sometimes bring me somewhere. Trust me, I once had a train of thought where I found myself thinking of medigel one second and then thinking of a show tune the next. My train of thought can be wierd."

Wrex nods simply at this, choosing not to say anything. It's then that I notice that he seems a little more on edge today. I look over to him and cross my arms.

"You seem a little on edge today," I say. "Is something wrong?"

The krogan gives me a sidelong glance, regarding me rather cooly. "Not that you'd understand," he says. "This is personal."

Oh, I think I see where this is going. "Try me," I reply, placing my hands on my hips.

Wrex gives me a rather knowing look, and I stand there resolutely. Yep, I know where this is going. I guess it's time for a little detour, eh, Wrex?

"Well, if you insist," he says. "I've been looking for my family armor for many years. It got confiscated by the turian military many years ago. I've been trying to find it since."

Yep, it's the family armor assignment! "I see..." I say. "Personal matter. Where do you think this family armor is?"

"I'm not sure," says Wrex. "Last I heard, it was in the posession of Tonn Actus. And that's a bad thing, because he sells krogan artifacts for a lot of money. If I knew how long he had it, I'd say he's been waiting to sell that armor for some time now. And we all know what happens then..."

I raise my eyebrow at this. "I can see why that would be a problem," I say. "Do you know where this Tonn Actus guy is?"

Wrex shrugged briefly. "From what I've heard, he's been on the Citadel a lot lately," he replies. Huh. That's different. I thought we had to go to Tuntau for that. Oh, well, it's just a change. "He's supposed to be there when we're there. I want to go after him..."

"But you're worried about something," I say.

The krogan hesitates briefly before replying. "If you want to put it like that, sure," he says. "I don't worry about things. You should know that by now."

"I dunno, Wrex, you sound worried to me," I say. "Maybe about failing?"

"Maybe," replies the krogan with a snort. "I doubt it, though. I think I just can't wait to crack Tonn's barefaced skull open on my way there."

Oh, barefaced, huh? So this guy's a turian. That detail adds up at least. And silly Wrex, not admitting that you're afraid. I know you're probably afraid of failure. Hell, in your situation I'd be pretty damn afraid myself. And Wrex just isn't willing to admit that.

"Right," I say. "It seems like it's a pretty dangerous deal. From the way you make it sound, he probably has enough mercenaries serving him to keep himself safe, am I right?"

"Too many," he says. "They'll all fall before me anyhow. It doesn't really matter."

I sense the hesitation in his voice as he says this, though, and suddenly I frown.

"You're worried about failing," I say. "And you're not doing a very good job of hiding it."

Wrex gives me a harsh glance before he throws his hands up. "Maybe," he says. "I just... don't have much else to help me hang on to my krogan heritage. You wouldn't get it..."

He turns away from me as he says this, and I can see the tension in his body. Well, this isn't turning out so well. It seems as if he hasn't told Shepard yet, either. Well... this is pretty important to Wrex, what with having killed his father and all, so... So maybe it's up to me to help Wrex get his family armor.

"All right then," I say. "I'll tell you what. Name a time and a place, and I'll meet up with you and help you get your armor back."

This gets the krogan's attention, and he turns right to me with a look of surprise on his face. "I thought I said you wouldn't get it," he says tersely. "You don't know my past."

"Yeah, I likely don't get it," I reply. "What I do get, however, is that this is obviously very important for you. The least I can do is help you out. And hey, if you can crush his skull, then I could probably make his skull... more squishy. If you know what I mean."

Wrex' expression seems to light up a little. "I see," he says. "I think I like where you're going with this."

"Hey, it'll be fun to bash on people that sell stuff for outlandish prices," I reply with a smile.

"Very well then," says the krogan. "Meet me at the airlock when we get to the Citadel. I think you should go in armor."

I nod. "All right," I say, smiling brightly at this. "I'll see you then."

Wrex nods at this as I turn to leave. "I'm looking forward to it!" he says.

And so am I. It's gonna be fun taking down a turian with an old krogan and a young human. This is going to be extremely fun indeed. Especially when we finally get the armor. Looks like I will be leaving this ship at the Citadel after all. Just, not for very long. I hope. I doubt it will be as short as I want it to be, especially if C-Sec gets involved. Which, if we're fast, we won't.

Well, I can't wait to help Wrex retrieve his armor. That will be plenty of fun indeed.

* * *

Ah, good old Varèse. _Arcana_ is certainly one of your more interesting works, especially with its flippant middle finger to Les Six. I like to think it's so, anyhow: the first version of _Amériques _was written the year before those composers were dubbed such. It's also got your standard Varèse trademarks; long sections where percussion just hammers away, dissonant brass chorales, high trumpets, clarinets, and piccolos all blasting away, and then just these gigantic dissonant chords from the entire orchestra. It feels so good to hear it again after all the silence I've had to endure.

It helps that I can now download music to my omni tool. Yeah, that's right. It's like... an IPod, I guess. Which is odd, because I repeatedly refused to get one. Now, though, with CDs being non existant, I kind of have no choice in the matter. Oh well. At least Varèse still exists around here. That much is a comfort to me, really.

Well, I'm in my room, this ship is going to dock at the Citadel in an hour, and we're getting free reign. So I'm going to be meeting up with Wrex sometime in the near future, and kicking Tonn Actus' ass. Well, if turians have one, anyway. Well, it'll be fun, I can be sure of that.

As I sit there, my gaze goes to my armor. It's all ready to go, being freshly polished from all that acid. It's a good thing, I guess. Makes my armor look more... badass, I guess? Those creepers really were acidic. I was concentrating so much on making it like a zombie movie I didn't realize how much of their acid burned into my armor until after the debriefing. Fortunately, Ash says it's nothing that can get in the way of stopping bullets or generating shields, so I think I'll survive.

My gaze sets itself on the paperweight that Benezia gave me. Jeez, I just can't stop looking at it. What is it? What am I supposed to do with it? I don't know. And I'm starting to care too much for my own sanity. This is getting rather crazy. And with Virmire coming up soon, I just can't see any hope of ever getting that question answered.

Oh, well. At least I won't have to think about it. Or maybe I will anyways. Oh, this is all too complicated. I need to shut up, right now.

I just sit back and continue listening to my Varèse, waiting for the ship to arrive at the Citadel as I listen to this music some more.


	11. Chapter 10

_A/N: And we go off. It looks as if Art will help Wrex out with the family armor. So fun times shall be had with that, I am sure. Anyhow, this will be quite a bit of fun once we get in._

_And of course, since it's on the Citadel now, this will make the investigation very, very different. So what will change? Quite a bit, such that it'll take a chapter to get it all done._

_So there we go. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 10: Varese: Arcana

I slipped into my armor and stood outside the airlock five minutes before I was supposed to meet Wrex. I wrap my odd little head thing that Ash gave me around my arm right as I get there, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's kind of like me trying to learn how to tie a tie; I never thought I'd get used to it, but here I am.

It's too bad I learned how to tie a tie specifically for Phi Mu Alpha, but then wound up not needing it when I got launched many years into the future. Yep, the irony is definitely palpable.

Speaking of which, I wonder what's going to change about the Family Armor assignment now that it's not on Tuntau anymore. I imagine it might be in the wards somewhere. Or maybe not. We'll have to see what happens next and where we're going from here.

Either way, I'm excited about this. I seriously can't wait to see what happens with all of this. Because undoubtedly it will be awesome.

And right at the specified time, Wrex shows up. His eyes seem to light up as he sees me waiting by the airlock, fully armed and ready for combat. He nods, his expression a little lighter.

"You kept your word," he says.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the kind that likes to fall back on his word when certain things happen," I reply. "Especially to people I know well."

"Glad to hear it," says the krogan. "That kind of thinking can get you out of many situations in one piece."

I nod at this, smiling. "So, where to?" I ask as we step into the airlock.

"Apparently, he has some apartments in the Zakera wards," says Wrex as the airlock door closes behind us. "I don't know where he is, though. We'll have to find out where he is first."

"Yes, that would be smart," I reply with a nod. "And if he's keeping the family armor somewhere else, we'll need to get that passcode too. I think we'll want to steer clear of C-Sec, too... That would be a problem if we managed to get your armor only to get ourselves arrested for a count of theft and a count of murder."

"You sure you want to do this?" he asks. "You don't have to, you know."

Oh, this again? I look over at his armor. It's colored red... Hm...

"You know what red stands for with me?" I ask. Wrex raises a curious eyebrow. "Sacrifice. I don't have to, but I'm doing it anyway. So there's your answer."

"That... doesn't answer anything, actually," replies the krogan.

I shrug. I technically can't say much beyond that, so I'll shut up now. "It will in time," I say. "Either way, I'm not backing out now. I'm with you on this for as long as I need to go."

Wrex nods at this. "All right," he says. "I hope you're ready to kick some barefaced ass!"

I beam at him, my smile shining a little too much for even my own comfort. "As ready as I'll ever be!" I say.

"All right," he says.

And with this, the airlock door whooshes open, and I get to venture around the Citadel again. Wrex steps out first, followed by me as we both leave to find the Zakera Wards.

* * *

We move about, our weapons idle and my cloth still wrapped around my hand as we walk around. I see a turian, and I approach him.

"Excuse me, sir," I say, looking over to him. "Do you know where I can find a turian by the name of Tonn Actus?"

He eyes me briefly, and I can see the faintest hint of a glare in his eyes. "No," he says curtly before walking off.

I blink as I watch him walk away. Jeez, that was impolite.

"Fuck you too, asshole," I mutter under my breath.

I then turn to Wrex, who is also asking around for Tonn Actus. We're not having any luck. The turians I ask routinely turn away, usually just walking off and leaving me to my own devices. I get a polite reply sometimes-if I'm lucky. Wrex doesn't get much luck asking anybody else, either. We're just wandering around asking about Tonn Actus and not really getting anywhere. And it is really starting to get annoying. It really is. It's like we're trying to ask where the bathroom is in Italy and we don't know the Italian for 'how'. Only, hostility seems to be playing into it. This is not going well.

It takes me back to the days when I drank JRPG's like a vat of water. I would wander around the towns with no way of moving forward, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do but not really getting anywhere. And then, I had to sell my soul to Gamefaqs to progress the story. I was a little younger then and didn't quite get mission objectives, but still, it was an innocent time. I remember I stopped playing _Skies of Arcadia: Legends_ for that reason, only to pick it back up a few years later and enjoy the hell out of its story. Either way, it feels like that.

And if we don't get it together... Oh, dear, I don't want to think about how pissed Wrex is gonna be.

"Hey! Excuse me, sir!"

It takes me a moment to realize that someone is calling to me. Oh, shit, I hate it when that happens. I see a rather astute man approach me. Wait... he looks familiar... Black buzz cut, stubble, slightly angular face, blue eyes...

Of course! It's the default M/Shepard model! I think I know who I'm talking to! Of course, he's a little... shorter than I remember him being. I guess that comes with being the younger sibling. Also, he isn't as muscular as he is in the game, but hey, what can you do, you know? Since this is Shepard I'm talking to, I might as well go and help him out.

"Yes?" I ask, glancing to the side to see Wrex asking an asari (to no avail, I'm sure).

"I... I'm a little lost," he says. "I have to report to the docks in twenty-four hours, but I'm not sure where I'm supposed to find them from the Zakera ward."

I blink. Well... I don't exactly remember the map of the Citadel, so...

"Well... I can't help you there," I reply. "I don't really know the Citadel all too well. Sorry."

He nods, glancing to the side nervously as backs away slowly. "Well, thanks for trying to help," he says.

"Actually, I'm looking for something," I reply quickly. He pauses where he is, and gives me a look. "Well, someone, really. Do you know where I can find a turian by the name of Tonn Actus?"

At this, the... well, stranger... raises an eyebrow. "Tonn Actus?" he says. "I think I've got some intel on him. Why?"

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. "Oh, thank goodness!" I say. "I've been out all over the place for this guy. What do you know?"

"Not much," he says. "But he likes to hang around... well... questionable places..." At this, he seemed to get a little nervous. Aw, the nervousness carried over from Al Makar. How cute!

I cross my arms. "Look, all you have to say is that he's a deviant and that will be that," I reply. "Do you know anything else?"

The man nods at this. "Enough, anyway," he says. "I've pinpointed a location he likes to hang out at." He types a few things on his omni-tool. "I'll download it to your omni-tool right now. It's in the Zakera wards, so you won't have to venture far. You may want to hurry, though. It's getting close to that time."

I nod, crossing my arms. "I see..." I say. "How do you know all this, and why are you helping me?"

"C-Sec's been trying to get this guy as far as I know," he replies. Oh, lovely. Not only does he get in bad with a krogan, but C-Sec too? Well, that'll solve that dilemma, I'm sure. "And also, because I know C-Sec doesn't have too much to go on, given that all their attempts to search his appartment come to nothing. I'm sure you have a better reason than I do to hang on it."

I nod, gesturing over to Wrex where he's all but fuming in rage at his ill luck. "My krogan friend here has more than a couple of reasons to hunt him down," I comment. "I'm helping as a favor to a friend."

He nods. "I see," he says. "And as for how I know that? I'm training to be an infiltrator. N7 training can come in handy when you least expect it..."

Well, he mentions N7. So I guess now would be as good a time as any to mention it.

"Wait, N7..." I say. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Albert Shepard, would it?"

At this, his eyes widen, and he very nearly falls back. Aha! "Y-yes, yes it is," he replies. "How do you know who I am?"

I smile, crossing my arms in front of me. "Your sister is my commanding officer!" I say.

He nearly balks at this, leaning forward as he looks at me. "Wait..." he says. "You're under Joc's command?"

Wait, what? Oh, don't tell me... "Joc?" I ask.

"Short for Jocelyn," replies Albert. Wait... Albert and Jocelyn... Al and Joc...

Oh, shit! This kicks ass! Wow, RoyalFanatic would be so flattered right now that the real name of the Shepard siblings was equivalent to her soul twins from the _Shooting Star _saga. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, that's cool! Now if only she were here to see it... That would be something. Maybe it'll add some fire to the soul twin idea? Hm... I dunno. Either way, this is still pretty damn awesome!

"You're on the Normandy?" he asks.

I nod at this. "Yeah," I say. "I'm the Earthborn kid that saved the quarian."

"I... I see..." he says, rubbing the back of his head. "Joc and I tend to talk a bit... and she's mentioned the crew of the Normandy a lot. You guys sound like a really odd bunch."

"Probably because we are," I say with a shrug. "But hey, that's the beauty of it, you know? She's mentioned you a couple of times, actually. Says pretty good things about you."

Al nods at this. "I see..." he says. "Well... it's funny running into you because you need help... Wow... this is a little awkward..." He rubs the back of his head as he thinks about this.

"Oh, nonsense," I reply with a smile. "It's always nice meeting people. So... the pleasure is all mine, Albert."

"Please, call me Al," replies the male Shepard sibling. "And I'm glad I was able to help with the Tonn Actus guy. Let me know if you get him."

"I'll let... er... your sister know," I say. Man, it's so wierd thinking of her as Jocelyn Shepard. If her middle name was Marie, it would make the coincidence so much more awesome.

He nods. "Good luck."

And with this short sentence, he leaves, and I see him exit. So he's an infiltrator. Huh. F/Shepard is apparently the vanguard, and Al is the infiltrator. Most interesting... That will certainly be fun to see once part 2 rolls around. Pity I won't be around for that long. Still, at least I got to meet Albert. That was certainly fun. I wonder how similar he is to the singer who wears a purple mask.

My reverie is interrupted when I hear a huff behind me. Turning, I face Wrex, who doesn't look to happy. He gives me a glare that sort of knocks my good mood out of me.

"I didn't have any luck," he says. "Seems nobody likes to help a krogan. What about you?"

I look to my left arm, where my omni tool rests. I bring it up, and then access the information Albert downloaded to the tool.

"Much luckier," I reply. "If you can believe it, I actually bumped into Shepard's _brother_ asking for help."

Whatever sour mood Wrex was in was instantly gone, as his tense posture suddenly takes flight. I don't know how he does it, but he somehow manages to look shocked. Huh. A krogan looking shocked. That's not something you see every day. It's only mild shock, but still.

"Oh?" he asks, looking down on me as he shifts his weight on his feet. "And what did he tell you?"

I bring up the information that was downloaded to my omni-tool.

"This," I reply, gesturing to the information that was displayed there.

He looks at the information on my omni tool. He seems concentrated on this information, and then he looks to me. Crimson eyes seem to get... well, different. Maybe more relaxed.

"That sounds about right," he says. "Figures. I should've known he would pull something like that. Let's go find this place."

With this, I nod, and the two of us head over to the place that Al directed me to.

* * *

We head to a rather stony looking area of the Zakera wards before we finally show up at the place where Tonn Actus is supposed to be. And we look at it, glancing over. It looks like a rather seedy bar, with a half-functioning neon sign overhead. It's kind of like the older bars on movies about Brooklyn and stuff. Kind of like that, only in the future. Jeez, I didn't know neon signs could fail in the future. Wow... That is certainly an unexpected discovery.

Wrex gives me no time to comment on it. "Here we are," he says. "Looks exactly like the kind of place he would hang around."

Oh, boy. The game _definitely_ didn't bring _this _up. He sells krogan artifacts _and _he's a criminal. I wonder what he does aside from that...

"Right," I say. "Now, if my calculations are correct, you probably know what he looks like."

"And he for me," replies the krogan. "I'm not going in there."

I blink. Wait... Oh, shit... "What's the drinking age on the Citadel?" I ask.

Wrex gives me an odd look. "For humans?" he asks. "18. Why?"

Oh. Phew. That was a close one. "Oh, good," I say. "I can enter then. Good thing, too; I wouldn't want to wait a year and two months to turn 21 like I have to for the Earth bars..."

The krogan gives me an odd look. "We should still wait for him to enter first."

"Right," I say. "Find somewhere to hide and let me know when he gets here. I'll keep a comm link open. If you see me walk out, follow, with or without prior words."

"Got it," says Wrex. He walks a short ways off so that he's inconspicuous. Huh, an inconspicuous krogan. I never thought I'd see the day.

All right. I stand in front of the bar, pacing around. Almost as if I'm debating whether or not I should enter. That looks pretty convincing I should think. Yes, this will work. I pace around for about a minute before the comm unit in my ear cackles to life.

"Okay, I see him," says Wrex over the line. "He's the greyish turian with the green suit."

I look around, inconspicuously, and I notice him on as I turn around. He doesn't pay much attention to me, but seems to pause briefly before he walks in. I swear his gaze is lingering on me.

Oh, dear. This is going to be wild and crazy. I don't know whether to feel disturbed that he's... no, I know that I definitely should be disturbed. The bastard's probably older than I am. So yeah. Bisexuality definitely doesn't figure into this one. Oh, no, sir.

I bring my hand up to the comm. "I saw him," I say. "We'll have to ad lib this one."

"All right," he says. "I can see all angles of the entrance. I'll try to follow you if you leave."

With this confirmation, I look up at the name of the bar. After staring at the disjoint neon, I venture inside.

And I step inside, and see the bar all inactive and stuff. It's definitely seedy, and I have a feeling I stick out like a sore thumb. My PC in _Dragon Age_ was a goody two-shoes for a reason, you know. Well, aside from using blood magic to save Connor, of course, and that was because I hadn't done Broken Circle beforehand.

Man... This is starting to get more like Samara's loyalty mission by the second.

Well, I should probably order a drink. I walk over to the bar, looking over to the bartender. He's a turian, with black facepaint on one part of himself. I nod to him as he turns to me.

"Good evening, sir," he says. "How may I help you?"

I look briefly at the menu that's there. Oh, okay, it's a holographic projection. Phew. "Eh... what's the lightest thing you've got?" I ask.

He blinks. "Well, the screwdriver isn't too bad for humans."

"Right," I say. "I'll take a shot of that please."

He nods, and goes under the table briefly. "One screwdriver, coming right up," he says. "You're 18, right?"

I nod. "19," I reply. "Going on 20 pretty soon. Just thought I'd chill for the night. Get out of a rough patch. You know?"

He nods at this. "Five credits," he says.

I work with my omni tool briefly, transferring my credits to his account as he set the drink before me. "There you go," I say. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he says.

And with this, he turns his attention to another person.

All right, keep your eye on Tonn Actus. I sip on my shot of screwdriver, thinking about that. It's true, really; I don't hold my alcohol well. The last time I drank socially, I ended up getting extremely dizzy, such that a friend had to walk me home and I began to exhibit my habit to laugh way too hard when I get drunk. Fortunately, I wasn't drunk enough that I forgot what had happened when I woke up the next morning, but I think I came pretty close to that. That, and it was late at night, and I also don't go past 11:30 all too well unless I'm playing on my PS3 or composing. So I think a screwdriver is a safe bet myself. I've had the good fortune of consuming alcohol in places where my family or friends could help me monitor my progress, and also that I'm more aware of things than most people when the dizziness sets in.

As I sip on my screwdriver, I hear someone get into the seat next to me. I hear the glass get plunked down on the table. Okay, that gets my attention. I turn my head and-

O-ho-ho-hoooookaaaaaaay... This is getting uncomfortable. Tonn Actus is sitting right next to me, giving me a look as I give a glance. Oh, shit. Yeah, this is uncomfortable. Don't tell me this guy preys on younger people... It'll be like O-Ren Ishii getting her revenge all over again.

"I noticed you outside," he says. "You paced around here."

Shit... I think he's hitting on me. Or trying to. Either way, this isn't entirely comfortable... Shit... Swallow it in.

"I just wasn't sure what to think," I reply. "This is the first time I've ever gone to a bar alone."

At this, I see his mandible flex slightly. Oh, dear, I think he's got some lewd thoughts going... "You don't have to do it alone," he says. "Here. The least I can do is buy you a drink."

Okay, Tonn... Shit, this is creepy as fuck. Man, I'm in this way over my head. Shit... No, Art, focus. You're doing this for Wrex. If this is the kind of depths you have to fall back on, so be it.

I turn to him. "All right, sir," I say. "I'll take that. Uh...?"

"Tonn," he says, holding out his hand.

I look at it briefly, my mind working. Well, I can't give my actual name, because that would tip him off that something is wrong. So... What to do... what to do... Pseudonym... But who...? Ah! I've got just the guy!

"Aranai," I reply, taking his hand and shaking it. "Zevran Aranai. Zev to my friends."

"Very well, Zev," says Tonn. "Some more of that?"

I look down at my shot, seeing the glass half-empty. Hm. Well, if it helps me keep track of him... I might as well.

I down the rest of my glass, shaking my head. Damn, I'm still not used to the taste of vodka in the evening. I look to him with a smile. All right, time to play Sexy Boy.

"Sure," I say.

He gives what I can only assume is the turian equivalent of a smile, and he calls it out to the bartender. I get a new screwdriver, and then we end up talking. A lot. I think we talked for about twenty minutes. He talked about his entrepreneur expertise. He's definitely very self indulgent, if a little lewd as well. Something about him reminds me a lot of Paco Mendez. I give myself a false history, although given that I myself am living under a false history that shouldn't be so hard. About how I'm training to be an Alliance soldier, how I love to go barhopping with some guys, and... well... dropping hints about interest. And I must say, I've shocked myself with some of the things that came out of my mouth. I was raised as a proper Roman Catholic, and I still hold on to a few things from that even if I no longer actively practice the religion. Some of the things I'm saying would be enough to make the most hardcore prostitute blush slightly. So yeah.

Towards the end of the twenty minutes, I'm on my fourth screwdriver and still doing relatively well for myself. At any rate, I'm not overly dizzy. Yet. But he gets more animated as he downs whatever turian ale he's having. And then, he looks at me.

"You know, you seem awfully lonely tonight," he says. "Down here in the Zakera wards. You need a lift home?"

I sigh, not sure what to tell him. "Well, I'm due on my ship in about... Hm... I'd say twenty hours," I say. It's true, too. We're staying here briefly and then heading off to see about that geth thing we found out about on the terminal at Feros. "But I don't really feel like going all the way back to the ship right now."

Tonn nods at this. "That's too bad," he says. "But... you could probably rest up at my place for the night... If you don't mind, that is..."

I look. All right, he's taking me to his place! Wrex shall find his armor soon! I of course don't say anything, biting on my lower lip and pretending to contemplate it. After a while, I nod.

"All right," I say. "That doesn't sound so bad. Lead the way."

The turian stands up, and then nods to me. I stand up myself, but not before he pays for our drinks via omni-tool. The two of us then leave the bar, exiting away. I can feel Wrex' stare behind me as he follows me with his eyes. I can just imagine the krogan sneaking around.

And so, Tonn and I head over to his place. Somehow, he doesn't suspect that there's a huge-ass, scarred krogan that he knows, but hey, I'm already far enough in this. I'll just play this for all it's worth.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, we arrive at his apartment. I step inside...

Holy shit! All these artifacts! There are artifacts hanging on the wall, on the ceiling, in display cases, by the windows... Holy shit, they're everywhere! There's enough of them here to make an entire archeological expedition figure out the culture of whatever civilization they're digging up! This is insane! No wonder Al wanted to help; this guy must be holding back a lot of information! I wonder how much trouble C-Sec has getting into this place; he probably jacks up the security! Really, the only other furniture in the room is a couch and a sitting table.

"Whoah!" I say. "I knew you sold artifacts, but... wow, I didn't think you'd decorate your home with them!"

"They are my pride and joy," says Tonn, going over to one of the artifacts posessively. "These things bring me so much happiness. You know what they say about the krogan, do you?"

I raise my eyebrows, playing along. "Not really," I say. "What?"

"The brutes don't know their own culture." Oh, the nerve of the racist son of a bitch! If I wasn't trying to preserve my cover, I'd have just shot the son of a bitch! "There is even a special suit of armor I keep in the vault that I only let myself see..."

Oh. The vault. That must be Wrex's armor. "I see..." I say, looking around as I enter the apartment further. "That's interesting..."

The turian gestures over to the couch. I think I see where this is going... And I am not looking forward to it as he moves over to the couch. I follow along, allowing the cloth to come undone from my hand.

He looks over at that as he sits on it. "So, Zev," he says. "I hear humans have odd fascinations..."

"Don't we all?" I ask, shrugging. "It's nothing new, really."

"Oh, I think you know what I'm talking about, my friend," replies Actus. Yes, yes I know what you're talking about... And I don't like it one bit. It's not even that I'm allowing myself to get seduced by a guy; I've got no problem with that given my bisexuality. It's just that he looks old. Very old. A 19 year old guy and an older turian... Shit, I'm gonna have to ask Wrex how old Tonn is later. If he's as old as Sturge was when I left home, I'm going to freak out. Horrifically. I can't believe I'm letting myself get seduced by an older male turian to get some armor for my friend...

After this, he owes me a lot. And if someone asks me to do something like this again, I am not agreeing to it. Granted, I couldn't see this coming, but still...

"I..." I begin. "... I think so... I've heard turians have strange ways of making advances on people, at any rate..."

The turian's grin is wider and more lecherous than I have ever seen, and now it's taking me biting on the inside of my mouth to avoid giving away that I'm horribly disgusted by this. "So you do know," he says. "Like playing hard to get, eh?"

I chuckle nervously. "More like 'I've never done it with a turian before'," I reply, using my nervous voice to hide my disgust with this arrangement. "I... get around, if you know what I mean..."

"Then you'll have no problem stripping for me, then," he says. "I hear humans do that. I want to see it for myself..."

Okay. This is turning more into the _Sexy Girl _chapter from _Heavy Rain_ by the second. And it's milking every disturbing second for all it's worth. Shit... I don't know how much longer I can do this without cracking... I'm already having a hard enough time shielding my disgust... Now I have to somehow knock him out and get Wrex's armor before I lose my virginity to some lecherous nutcase who makes too much profit on krogan artifacts.

"Well... are you sure a striptease would work?" I ask. "There are many, many ways that humans do stuff. And I can't give a good strip in this armor."

Tonn looks over my armor briefly. He then nods. "All right," he says. "Get down to your shirt and pants, and I'll be back. I'm going to go check on my vault. I expect you'll be ready in five minutes."

Almost too quickly, I nod. With this, he graciously stands up. "Very well then," he says. "I'll be back, dear boy!"

With this, he turns around and heads off into a different part of his apartment. Looks like his vault is in the bedroom. Right. I better get ready.

I take off my magnetic weapon rack, looking through my assortment. Let's see... Shotgun is too big. Assault rifle isn't any better. Pistol. All right, I'll go about it with the pistol then. I take the pistol off, dropping the magnetic thing on the ground carefully and with the weapon side facing the ground. I can't risk him knowing that there's a hidden pistol somewhere. Okay, where do I hide it? Oh! There's a pillow that's just small enough to hide it. With proper placement, I can probably hide it! With this, I look around the pillow, realizing I can also partly hide it in the cushion. I wedge it in there, covering the handle with the pillow. Okay, I think I know what to do.

With that, it's only a matter of stripping my armor. And I've only got three minutes to do it. All right. Off goes the chest plate, and then everything else. Gotta hurry! Gotta hurry!

Before long, I've got all my armor off, and I'm in my shirt and pants. Good thing I still wear underwear. Futuristic underwear, too, which is more revealing than I would like it to be. What can I do?

As soon as I take my boots off, I hear the door open. My heart skips a beat, and then Tonn Actus walks out... naked. Shit, he's direct, isn't he? I'm beginning to lose my cover, I know it.

He walks over to the side, and he drops some kind of wireless key over to the side. Oh, hey, it's probably the vault key. I see where this is going.

"All right," he says, laying himself on the couch as suggestively as he can for being a turian. "I'm ready for your little strip show..."

Shit. All right, Art, keep it together. Don't break your cover until you reach for the gun. You can do this. You can pretend to play along.

I then think of the Dance of the Seven Veils, and set a rhythm to that for a striptease. Just think of the Dance of the Seven Veils. All right, I think I can do it. After I seem to do that, I turn and wave my ass at him. I look behind and see him get a little too enthralled for my own good. He seems to stare on as I move it to the couch.

I think I should take off an article of clothing. I'll go with my shirt for now. I turn around, my knee on the couch as I pull my shirt up slowly. When I am fully shirtless, I feel him run his talon along it. His touch is icy, and I really don't like it. Lecherous men are creepy indeed. I feel his touch get... more exploratory...

I can't do this. Not like this. I'm gonna have to make this quick.

I work on my pants next, slowly lowering them as his eyes trail along. My legs are in full view as I discard my pants. I then kneel towards the pillow that the gun is hidden under, slowly crawling towards it as I wave my ass. He makes some comment about human asses, and then I feel his face staring right at my ass even as my hand is reaching under the pillow.

I look behind me one last time. Okay, he's distracted by my ass. Now's the perfect time.

With a harsh yank, I come flying around, whacking him on the head with the pistol. I see his expression register surprise before I leap back and shoot the man a few times in the stomach. Blue blood spills out onto the couch, his naked form conveying shock at getting shot. He's still breathing harshly as I walk over to him. I frown as he gives me an angry look.

"You son of a bitch...!" he says weakly. "Zevran Aranai, I will have my mercenaries hunt you down!"

I reach for my pants as he says this, putting them back on. "Go ahead," I say. "Zevran Aranai isn't a real person. Or do you purposefully disregard human fantasy fiction?"

He very weakly stands up. "What the-?"

I shoot him in the stomach, causing him to fall back down. You deserve it, you disgusting son of a bitch. "I'm not one to give myself to older men," I say, picking up my shirt. and walking over to him. I point my pistol at his head, a scowl forming on my face as I point the barrel at him.

"Urdnot Wrex sends his regards."

He barely has time to jolt up before I pull the trigger. His eyes still wide in anger, he slumps to the ground. I don't think that will be the end of it, though; he's a turian, it'll take more than one shot. I shoot him at least two more times in the head before I pause above his body.

After the fact, I look down at the body of Tonn Actus, my mind racing as I realized everything that has just happened. Wow... I almost got raped.

"Jesus Christ on a pikestaff..." I say aloud as I step back from the corpse of the artifact dealer. "I am _never_ doing that again."

With this, I put my shirt on. I get my armor and my magnetic weapon rack back on as well before holstering my pistol back there. I see the key he left on the table. I look to my comm unit, and insert that into my ear.

"Wrex, you there?" I ask into it.

The krogan replies back. "I'm having a bit of a hard time getting in," he says. "There are mercs everywhere! They seem to be defending Tonn from me."

I look down at Tonn's body before shaking my head. "Too bad for them," I say. "I managed to get Tonn. And he's dead, so yeah. There's a vault in this apartment; I think it's where the armor is. I'm gonna go check it out. Just sit tight with those mercs and I'll get the armor."

"Make it quick," he says. "I don't think I can hold out much longer."

I roll my eyes at this, chuckling. "Right," I say. "I'll make it as fast as I can!"

With this, we cut the comm link, and then I look down at the wireless key. I grab it and head deeper into the apartment. The bedroom should be the key...

I enter, and am surprised by just how barren the bedroom is in comparison to the artifact. I look around and the only confirmation I get is that there is some kind of painting on the far wall. I look at it, and... Well, it's always behind the painting, right?

I hold up the key to the light, and then I see a button. I press it, looking over at the wall. As soon as I do, the wall opens up, the painting rising as some lights come on within the vault. All right, I think I've hit the jackpot! The lights come on, and I see all manner of krogan artifact. There's ancient weaponry. There's a musical- holy shit, a musical instrument! I'm totally going to steal it, especially since it's small! I take the instrument. Hm... looks like some variation of a recorder. Except for the fact that the bell goes off in two parts, with three fingerholes each. Wonder what this does. Well, the mouthpiece is too large for me (naturally), so I just store it under my armor. It's made of bone, it'll be fine. There's all manner of artifact around the place, and it's... well, startling really. If I was not in a dealer's home, I would be extremely giddy right now.

And then, on a pedestal in the center of the room is the family armor. I look over it briefly. It's white, with the ceremonial circles above. It's certainly grand, and definitely befitting of clan Urdnot. I smile as I look at the armor. I run a hand across it, and I think I know that everything will be all right. I mean, in the game it looked awesome enough... but in this room in real life, there's something incredibly regal about it. Like I could play a _Pomp and Circumstance_ march to just seeing this thing.

I slowly bring my arms around and lift it, surprised by how light it is. All of the armor is within the chest and hump plate, and surprisingly I can lift it all without too much of a problem. It's light, looks very durable, and is incredibly regal. No wonder Actus wanted to sell this thing; it's the ultimate krogan armor.

I quickly take the armor and step outside of the vault, the thing closing when I leave. I look behind and then back down to the armor before setting it down on the bed. I activate my comm unit as I lay the armor down.

"Wrex, I've got the armor," I say. "I don't think I can lift it and shoot at the same time, though! We'll have to come back for that!"

"You won't have to worry about that," says a voice I don't recognize from the other side of the unit.

Oh, shit. No... No no no... Not Wrex...

"What have you done with him?" I ask. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry," he says. "He's cooperating. For now. We only ask that you come down quietly. When you do, hand the armor back over to us, and we'll let you both go. With your lives."

Shit... There's always a catch with that. They're just going to kill him when I get there, and then me. I can't give them what I want. Shit, what do I do?

"We will wait ten minutes for your reply," he says. "If we haven't heard from you, he dies. This starts now."

Oh, shit. Not before Virmire, you sons of bitches. I run back into the main room with the armor in tow as I look over to the window. I've gotta take another way out if I want to avoid being seen. Where...

I suddenly notice that the apartment isn't that high up. It's only one story, I think it is. An apartment of this size on a lower floor? Blasphemy! Oh, well, it's the only thing I've got right now. I'll have to make this quick.

I take my shotgun off my pack. The windows are likely going to be really tough, if only because the breathable air cuts off at around the halfway point of the window. I grab my cloth and tie it around my head before grabbing my shotgun.

Here goes nothing.

I bang the butt of the shotgun against the glass, the thing barely even cracking. Okay, that doesn't work. I step back, and prepare the shotgun. I let out a yell and rush towards the glass, and as I approach, I stab the shotgun against the glass. _That_ gets it to crack. All right, we're making some progress here. That is always a good thing. Maybe a little more should do it. I bring my shotgun up against the glass, and it cracks some more. Okay, one more should do it. I breathe in and out twice for a bit, and then I take a huge breath and hold it in before finally shattering the glass.

The glass shatters, and it falls out. The almost-vacuum that I'm in now nearly takes the breath out of my lungs, but I duck down quickly and find I'm able to breathe a little easier. Okay, out of the vacuum. Now I need to get out of there before I die. Heh. Entering vacuum. All I need is the counter behind my armor counting down how much air I have left before I die and it'll be just like the USG Ishimura. Quickly running back and grabbing the armor, I sling the hump and chest plate so that the entire armor set is left dangling around my left arm before kneeling down on the ground.

I quickly get on the ground, hang over the ledge, and look down. Okay, it's not too far. I can probably make it if I'm careful. I look around and suddenly see something I can grab onto so I can make my fall a little shorter. It's along a wall that is just standing there as decoration for the entrance of the building. Aha! If I can get that, I should be all right!

I swing a little bit on the sides so that I can get it on. And- Oh, shit, I lost my grip with my right hand! Oh, Christ. It's up to my left hand now... Yeah, I think I got it, even with the added weight of Wrex's armor. I slowly bring my arm back up, and then I manage to grip the ledge safely. All right let's try that again. I swing a little bit to the sides, feeling my feet go side to side. All right. I've got enough momentum now. One, two, three.

I leap off the edge, hoping to catch the next ledge. But I just slam against the wall, my fingers not even close to it. Ah, shit, I should've taken different gravity into account! I slide against the wall briefly before I realize that it's close enough that I can just vault off the wall back onto the apartment. I do that, and I slide back down to the ground, mostly unharmed except for a slight tingling feeling in my arms from holding up my body weight plus Wrex's armor. Fortunately, Wrex' armor doesn't look scratched, and I can sense that I'm all right.

Okay, I'm alive. Now, to get Wrex out of there.

I pull out my assault rifle, sidling up along the wall to get a better look at the situation. It's looking pretty bad. They're still looking out into the building. I guess the sound doesn't travel as well in an almost vacuum. They're holding Wrex at gunpoint, his guns all being held by some turian mercenaries. Shit... there are ten of them. How am I supposed to take all ten of them down? This isn't good.

"Need some help?"

I nearly jump there. I never expected I'd hear him again. "Al?" I ask as softly as I can manage while startled.

"Hey," he says through the comm link that he's started up without my knowledge.

"Al, what the hell are you doing here?" I ask. "Didn't you have a ship to go back to?"

"I didn't feel comfortable leaving you and the krogan to your own devices," he replies. "So I followed you here and hacked into your comm lines."

I frown at this, looking around the place. "How the hell did you do that?" I ask. And almost as soon as I say it, I realize it's a stupid question.

"I'm an infiltrator, remember?" asks Al, and I can suddenly see a red dot dancing on one of the mercs. "It's what I do."

I nod at this. "Right," I say. "Okay, you get a few of them," I say. "I'll wait until the first shot is fired. And don't hit the krogan in red armor. We'll sort of make up the rest as we go."

"Got it," says the Shepard sibling as I see the scope dance. From the dot, I look around, and... well, there he is, on a maintenance shaft. "Standby."

And with this, Al fires the first shot. The rifle is surprisingly silent. Huh, they must have silencers in the future. But no matter what, one of the turians drops dead, and then the other mercs slowly look down. They don't even consider using Wrex' comm unit to contact me! How idiotic!

I look over to the maintenance shaft as he prepares another round. When he shoots, I see the turian holding Wrex at gunpoint fall to the ground. All right, great move Al! That will get things out of the way.

Okay, I think it's time I actually did something for once. I come out of cover briefly, and then fire my assault rifle at another turian mercenary. It's when I manage to get him killed that they finally activate their shields. But by that time, I'm already working at another turian, and I've already got him in the face by the time he activates his shields. I see Al fire a shot into the mercs, and then I keep tabs and follow up with assault rifle fire. That goes pretty well, and the turian drops own.

I see Wrex, and also see that he's got his hands tied up behind his back. But, he's gotten most of the knot loose, so that's a good thing. Plus, his shotgun isn't too far away, so that is always a good thing. As Al shoots at another merc, I see Wrex suddenly stand up and reach for his shotgun. After a dive, he manages to get it, and he turns to the panicking mercs and fires one right into the one that Al had just shot at. This sends it flying, and then I grin.

"Glad to have you back," I whisper to myself.

I come out of cover then and concentrate some fire on a turian just at the edge of the crowd. After that... well, I don't know. It's just general pandemonium as sniper rounds, shotgun blasts, and assault bullets whiz about them. I don't even think they put up that good a fight. Grunt would be disappointed.

When the mercenaries are down, I peer up, and come out from behind cover. Well, not before I take a hold of Wrex' armor first. I run over to Wrex, holding out the white armor.

"Here it is," I say, extending it to him. "Looks regal, if I do say so myself."

Wrex looks at the white armor before nodding. Taking it from my hands, he holds the armor and looks inside to see that yes, all the pieces are still there. He touches the white armor, his finger almost seeming a little nostalgic as he looks at it. Wait... Wrex isn't getting misty, is he? No way! Wrex never gets misty! Does he?

"White as the sands of our grandest desert..." says the krogan. "Exactly as I remember it. Even right down to the insignia on the armor."

He turns to me, and I see something sparkle in his eyes. Something... Oh, shit, he is getting misty, isn't he? "Thank you, my friend," he says. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Well, if you're going all eloquent on me, I'm guessing it means a lot," I say.

Wrex nods. "I would say that, yes," he comments. "But still... You kept your word. I owe you much for this favor."

Oh, Christ. "Yeah, I would agree with that," I say, nodding nervously. "I allowed myself to get seduced by an older man for that!"

Wrex looks down at me. "Wait..." he says. "So he tried to...?"

I nod. "How old was he?" I ask.

"Seventy-three," he replies. "At least, the last time I checked. Also, he carried stuff that humans could get." He pauses for a moment, and then glances to the side before continuing. "Yes, I do owe you a lot, now that I think about it."

Uh... Shit... Seventy-three... And he has about 10,000 different kinds of AIDS... Shit... That's...

I'm sorry, I have encountered an error and will need to shut down. Have a nice day.

* * *

Fortunately, I recovered from my shock pretty quickly. And one set of introductions, two tram rides, and three C-Sec officers later, we're finally back at the Normandy's airlock. Al walked with us all the way back here, and now, we're just talking a little bit about needless things. His N7 training, my soon-to-come sniper rifle training, all that good stuff.

And when we get to the Normandy, Al nods to us. "Okay," he says. "And that should take care of your problems, Wrex."

"Thank you for your help," says the krogan.

"You're not gonna say hi to your sister?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "I have things that need to be taken care of before my ship leaves," he says. Oh, well that sucks. It makes me a sad panda... "Besides, you can probably adress her with her first name. She'll know you met up with me almost immediately, because I'm the only one who calls her Joc on a regular basis."

"I see..." I say. Oh, boy, these next few days are gonna be fun. "Anways, it was nice meeting you. Thanks for all your help!"

"Hey, if you're ever on the Citadel and need something, let me know!" says the infiltrator. "I'll see you around."

And with this, the infiltrator leaves us at the airlock. I wave to him as he walks away, a smile coming to my face. He disappears within the crowd, leaving Wrex and I standing there with the krogan carrying his own armor. He seems to look out into the crowd as well, and I can hear victory music swelling somewhere in the recesses of my mind. I nod to Wrex.

"Well, we've got your armor back," I say with a smile.

"Yes, we have," he says. "Thanks. This means a lot to me. More than I think you know."

"Hey, anytime," I reply. "Let's get back into the Normandy."

And with this, we enter the airlock. Mission accomplished!


	12. Chapter 11

_A/N: Yeah, old turian perverts are not fun. Especially for our intrepid hero._

_By the way, for those of you that caught the _Once Upon a Shooting Star _shout-out with the Shepard siblings? You get free cookies via wireless connection. So yeah._

_Anyhow, last time, we got Wrex's armor back. So you'd think Virmire will be coming soon, right?_

_Not so fast, bucko! We've still got geth to look out for! So we'll take a chapter on the Normandy, and another one to teach Art how to use a sniper rifle. Go!_

* * *

Chapter 11: Teenager's Games

It's been a few hours since I last talked to Wrex. He's been alone down by the Mako from what I understand, looking at his armor. At least, that's what I hear from Garrus.

I think it's time I checked in with him again anyhow. I'm sure he's wanting to talk to me again.

With this, I head down by the Mako, and I see the krogan there, the armor still in front of him. The remaining pieces are scattered about the floor, and he looks at them in amazement. Theres a glint in his eyes that I never saw before that makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Like I'm watching _An Imitation of Life _for the first time again. I walk over to him as he admires his armor, such that I'm standing right next to him admiring the armor. It really is a regal set, that much is for sure. And it seems to glisten in the light of the Normandy.

"So, the family armor..." I say.

"It was a gift to my family from the salarians for wiping out the rachni," says the krogan. "The entire galaxy would know the name of Urdnot. But... well, you know what happened after that."

I nod at this. "Yep, that we do," I say. "Shame, really. You guys really aren't all that bad."

Wrex chuckles at this. "Glad to think you think so," he says. "Most would just be afraid. But you're not like most."

Ah, so he's past the _Avenue Q_ talk? Okay. "I'll drink to that," I say. "That's how I like it, and that's how I'll stay as long as I can."

The krogan nods his agreement, and then we're silent for a minute or so. Wrex... actually lets a softer side of him come through right now. He's very nostalgic. Hm... He's not so far removed from being that which he told me about. It only proves that we're all thinkers in our own little ways, I guess. I guess everyone thinks every now and again.

Well... except for possibly conspiracy theorists. They don't think with their heads; they think with the air bubbles inside their heads.

We look at the armor for a little bit more before Wrex turns to me. "I was wrong about you," he says.

I raise my eyebrow at this. Well... this is new. "What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"You're very far from being the weakling you were when I first saw you," he admits. "You tell me you're a weakling after all you've been through. Especially with Tonn Actus. I dare you to tell me you're weak."

I nod, chuckling at the wry bit of humor. "Well, when you put it that way..." I say. "I guess you could put it like that. Why do you say any of that?"

"You're fearless," he replies. "And if you're afraid, you sure as hell don't show it. And plus, you've learned how to use guns faster than any of us. That takes... something. You've got a quad on you, kid."

Oh, wow, he's already dropping the quad comment? Wow, I feel pretty honored. "A quad?" I ask. "Is this referring to the fact that krogans have... uh... four... well... you know... uh...?"

"...Yes," he says simply. "I'm surprised you knew that."

Oh, dear. This is getting awkward fast. "I..." I say, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks. "Uh... Well... You know..." How do I break it to him...? "Uh..."

And then Wrex just bursts out laughing. Ah, Christ, don't tell me he thinks... Oh, shit, no... Please no... Don't let him think-

"Don't worry about it, kid," he says. Okay, wow, he's calling me kid a lot. Well... he is 1400 years old, so I guess I can't fault him for that one. "Some things are best kept hidden, right?"

I nod very quickly. "You could say that," I say. Like you killing your own dad, I guess. "Especially when you're all bitter and stuff..."

The krogan is silent after this, and he looks to his family armor. I notice his foot moving slightly, and then he turns to me. "Yeah, I guess," he says. "You try killing your own father out of necessity one of these days."

At this, I jolt slightly. I knew he had killed his own father... but hearing it from his own mouth is kind of jarring. "You what?" I ask.

Wrex shakes his head. "You know how I am," he says. "My father... didn't like what I was. So he tried to kill me. I had to kill him first. The rest, you know."

I blink. "Damn," I say. "I... I don't know... Shit, man..." Yeah, that's enough to make _anyone_ bitter. "Wow... No wonder..."

"Wish I didn't have to," says the krogan. "That's one of the most messed up things I've ever had to do."

I look down at the armor. "So that's the only thing of his you have left..." I say.

"From before he tried to kill me, anyhow," replies Wrex, looking down at it. "Reminds me of... better times. Before the genophage. When he was... better. A real krogan. I don't know what I'm supposed to make of it... All these thoughts... I'm not sure what to think of them..."

Oh, dear... "I see," I say. "The term humans would use would be 'nostalgia'. Where we look back and reflect on things." And then remember it so that others don't have to.

The krogan is silent as he contemplates this. Finally, he nods. "Yes, that seems to be what I'm feeling," he says. "Just thinking about the krogan my father was... It makes me wonder..."

Hm... Looks like it's time to get back with something. "I thought being a thinker would get you killed on Tuchanka," I say, holding my hands behind my back and smirking.

Wrex smirks wryly at me, and I can see that happy glitter in his eyes. "This isn't Tuchanka," he replies almost without missing a beat. "I think I'm allowed to indulge."

I roll my eyes. "Really?" I ask, beginning to pace by his armor. "How much?"

His smirk is constant. "As long as I like," he replies.

Aha! I hath softened him! Mission accomplished! Quick someone play the Final Fantasy victory music!

... And just like that...

"Aw, damn it, I just lost the game!" I shout. I frown and pound my fist in the air as I shake my head vigorously.

The smirk seems to fade slightly as he looks to me. "The game?" he asks. "What's the game?"

I shrug, rolling my eyes as I pause. "Oh, it's a thing me and my friends on Earth would play from time to time," I say. "Well... all the time."

Wrex shifts in his seat, seeming interested. "Tell me more," he says.

"Oh... well..." This is new. Wrex wanting to know about the game? This will be fun. "Well, the game is a mind game that is always played by everybody at the same time."

"Right," he says. "What are the rules?"

Oh, boy. "This is kind of where it gets wierd," I say. "See, the object of the game is to not think about the game. Because if you think about the game, you lose the game."

Wrex blinks, uncertain of what this means. "Wait..." he says. "So you just made me lose the game?"

I nod. "Yep," I say, smirking. "Now, whenever you lose the game, you get a fifteen-minute immunity during which you can make others lose the game. And once it's up and someone mentions the game, you lose the game. No matter what, if you lose the game in your head, you have to say it out loud. And then, you get to watch as everyone that knows about the game reacts to it with expletives."

The krogan's smirk returns full force, and his eyes gleam merrily. "I think I could get behind that," he says. "Don't think about the game. Right. You'll be hearing about it from me again."

I nod. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with," I reply, smiling.

"You better watch your ass," says Wrex, pointing a finger at me. "I'll find some way to make you lose it!"

"Bring it on!" I say, mock beckoning him with a hand.

And thus, the war of the game between Urdnot and ********* has begun. May the fireworks begin.

* * *

All right. Hm... No... 1, 2, 3... 4 hasn't been entered yet... 5, 6, 7... 8 hasn't been entered either, and neither has nine. Hm... Well, 4 can't go in that box because of various other things... Oh, wait, it can't go in that row either! So it must go... here! Yes, that must be it. And then 8 takes care of itself thanks to the 8 being in that box, and then 9 fills the only remaining slot.

And with that, I have a completed column. I feel smug, especially since I'm getting closer to completing the puzzle with each move I make. It's even better on a digital interface; it makes it much easier to check my work and see if I've fucked up somewhere. Ah, well. I guess another downside of being here is that I can't finish any puzzles that my grandmother has started. Probably good for her, as she absolutely hates it when I do that. (Even then, though, she only shows it in jest.) But then, there are a lot of other not so good things that come with that.

Like going to lunch at Deli Lane or Blu. Oh, I'll miss those days. At least, until I get back home, anyway. Going back home to Miami was always annoying, but I had my grandmother there. And I would always go to lunch with her at least once each time I went back home. It was always my favorite part of being back home from school. I'm just thankful I got to tell her that when I was down there last December. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had never been able to tell her...

Ah, well... All this talk of restaurants is making me think about food again. Gah, mess hall opens up in fifteen minutes. And they won't have things like that incredible apple sandwich on raisin bread with swiss cheese that they make at Deli Lane. Gah, I could go for that or a burger any time now... Guh... I love to eat!

Well... I guess I'll just have to wait a bit sitting here. It probably makes me look stupid, but hey.

All right, back to the puzzle. Okay, so 1 can't go there, but it can go here and here. Same story for 4. So since 5 is the only number left in that row... All right, 5 goes-

"Hello, Art."

Gah!

I jump an inch or so off my seat, very startled and turn behind me very quickly. Oh, it's just Tali.

"Oh, Tali," I say, exhaling in relief as I speak. "Oh, God, I hate it when people sneak up on me like that."

"I wasn't interrupting something, was I?" she asks.

I look down at my omni-tool where the puzzle is still on a holographic projection before I shrug. "Not something overly important, no," I reply. "Just a way of killing time more than anything."

I then show her my omni tool. Looking at the grid of numbers, she gives me a rather strange look. "What's that?" she asked. "Some kind of game?"

"More like a puzzle, but yeah," I reply. "It's a number puzzle that we call 'sudoku'."

Tali tilts her head to the side, and I can sense her curiosity. "You mind if I join you?" she asks. "This 'sudoku' business sounds like fun."

Oh, hey, Tali wants to join me! I don't see why not. "Sure," I say, shifting at the table to allow room for her. "Take a seat."

The quarian takes well to the invitation, and she sits down so that we're side by side and she's looking at my omni-tool. With this, she looks at it and sees the numbers there. I frown briefly, bringing my other hand to the tool.

"A half-completed puzzle probably isn't the best way to introduce sudoku to someone," I reply, going about the menus. With a few taps on the holographic interface I bring up a new puzzle and show that to her. "All right, so this is a blank sudoku puzzle," I gesture to the puzzle. "It's a grid of 9 squares by 9 squares, sectioned off into 9 larger boxes sectioned off by bolded lines."

"Okay," says the quarian. "What are you supposed to do?"

I gesture to the grid again. "The object is to fill the grid," I say. "The point is to do it so that every number from 1 to 9 is used in all of the bolded boxes, rows, and columns."

"Oh, so it's a logic game," says Tali. "You mind if I try a puzzle?"

"'Course not," I reply. "Besides, I'd be a hypocrite not to let you."

With this, the quarian turns to me as we reposition ourselves so she can access my omni-tool. "Really?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say with a shrug. "I got good at this game by completing all of my grandmother's puzzles whenever she got stuck."

With this, she gave me a rather stern look that I could feel from behind the mask. "I... see..." she says, her voice a little stony. Yeah, I deserved that.

I shrug at this. "She took it with a grain of salt," I reply. "I at least have that. So... start wherever, and we'll see what you can do."

At this time, I notice how close we are. My arm has come around in front of Tali, and we're still sitting side by side. She's sitting to my right, so that makes things a little easier for me. My arm is out in front of her, and... well... we are sitting quite close... And... Okay, yeah, I'm dropping this now.

With this, Tali nods. She examines the puzzle briefly, and then she touches the holographic display on my omni-tool. Hey, she put a 2 there. Smart move. I guess. Oh, hey, she's moving around, and... Wait. No way... She's putting in numbers... And yet they're all making sense! Holy shit! What's the difficulty...?

Holy shit, I gave her a hard puzzle. And she's breezing through it! Holy shit! Yeah, this is crazy!

"There we go," she says, a slight cheer in her voice.

Holy shit! She completed it! Oh my... What...

"Jesus Christ on a pikestaff..." I mutter as I look at the puzzle. "A... Are you sure you had never heard of this until now?"

"Absolutely," she replies. "Why?"

I look to her with wide eyes. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who's been able to complete a hard difficulty sudoku puzzle in three minutes."

She rears her head back. "Really?" she asks, her voice curious. "I found it pretty easy. Why?"

I shrug. "We humans tend to have a harder time of it," I say. "But then, I guess humans have a harder time of salvaging geth memory cores too."

The quarian chuckles at this. "I see..." she says. "But still, it's a fun way to pass the time. I can see why you like it so much."

With this, I gesture with my shoulders briefly before I smile. "Well, that's sudoku for you," I reply. "A lot of the puzzles require some very interesting thinking. Of course, there are puzzles that are harder than that."

"Sounds like fun," she says. "I think I'll download it to my omni-tool sometime. Especially to see these harder puzzles."

I wave my hand graciously. "Be my guest," I say, smiling.

With this, we nod a little bit. "You know..." says Tali. "You never told me much about your family. What is it like?"

Oh, boy... "Well... I'll start with the summary," I say. "My parents always go worrying about their children too much, my sister is too much of a social butterfly for safety, and my brother is too innocent for words."

Tali seems to shift in her seat. "It must be wonderful having siblings," she says.

"Really?" I ask. "You're an only child, I take it."

Tali snorts softly. "_Every_ quarian I know is an only child," she says.

Yeah... Being confined to ships is never a good thing. "Oh," I say. "Well... it has its ups and downs, just like any other family relationship. I was kind of going through a rift with my sister anyways. She's always the one that's all over the place and out there and not afraid to show it. And I was always the quiet one, preferring to keep to myself sometimes."

"That's definitely changed," replies the quarian. "But still... She was all over the place?"

I shake my head at this. "She does a lot of traditional Cuban dancing," I reply. "Or... used to, anyway. Something happened between a couple of friends of hers and herself that caused a major fallout where they're not even speaking to each other again. I'll probably tell you about it some day when the scars are healed." That, and I don't feel like betraying her trust like that. "But no, she was always very friendly."

Tali nods at this. "What was her name?" she asks.

"Anneli," I reply, shrugging. "Not a very common name for human women, either."

"Interesting," she says. "And you mentioned you have a brother?"

I nod. "He's... quite a bit younger than I am," I say. "At least, in mind. He's really only two years younger than I am, but still overly innocent." Should I...? Yeah, probably. There's Gillian in the expanded universe, so autism definitely still exists.

"Really?" asks Tali, shifting slightly where she sits. "Not exposed to the world? From what I hear, Earth is a place where people are never innocent."

I bite my bottom lip before continuing. "He's mentally disabled," I reply.

Tali is silent for a brief moment before looking down. "Oh..." she says, her fingers suddenly seeming to tense as she puts her arms on the table. "I... I see... That must be hard to live with..."

"Not as much as you might think," I reply, smiling. "Sure, he can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes, but he's often so adorable that it kind of evens out. He's also a very uncommon source of inspiration for us all."

The quarian nods at this, and I can see her eyes glimmer behind the mask. Well, shine, anyway. "So it's sort of like a parental relationship, only to those your age," she says.

I nod. "Kind of," I say. "Well, to your father anyway. If you can believe it, I'm actually afraid of my own father."

The machinist shifts uncomfortably in her seat, looking at me. "You're afraid of your father?" she asks. "I... I can't imagine how that could be..."

I shake my head. "He's one of those kinds of people that's convinced that he's always right," I reply. "And when you try to tell him otherwise, he throws a fit. I sort of... came to hate him, really."

"That's awful!" she says, looking at me and turning her body as she does so. "What kind of son are you?"

Son? Son? What about him? I'm not the bad son here! I'm the victim! I'm- I'm... "A son who's had it up to here with dealing with a stubborn, controlling hypocrite who calls himself my dad," I reply. "Sure, he does stuff for me, but I'm beginning to get fed up with having to watch my step every time I talk to him lest he fly into a rant. I can't even stand him when he's _not_ mad. His sense of 'humor' is astoundingly idiotic."

Tali seems to shift slightly, turning her body so that we're both facing the same direction. "I..." she says. "I don't imagine I would know a quarian that would be like that."

I shrug. "My mom is not so bad," I reply. "Except for the fact that she worries about _everything_ a little too much. But still, she looks out for me, and if I ever have a dispute with dad she's the first person I'll turn to. Especially when he pisses her off as much as he does me."

The quarian chuckles. "I know the feeling," she says. "I... never really knew my mother all that well... But there was my aunt, Shala'Raan. Your mother almost sounds exactly like her. Always overprotective, but their hearts are in the right place."

Really? Hm. I never got to know Shala'Raan too well from the game. So maybe I could met her in more detail... No, I'll be gone by that point in time. "I see," I reply, smiling. "In that case, I guess we've got more in common than we first thought."

"Overbearing mother figures?" she asks, her stance playful.

"Check," I say. I wink at her playfully when I finish saying this, to which she does something under that mask that I really don't know anything about.

And we sit there, talking about our families for a few minutes before the mess hall opens. I'm really coming to Tali a lot, I find. I just like her a lot for some reason. She's kind and very dependable, and always willing to listen to what I have to say. I think it works out for me, too, because I feel like I have a real friend again. It's odd. I had RoyalFanatic back home to confide everything to, and yet Tali seems to be doing the same thing here. It's just really nice to have a friend I can feel extremely comfortable around. The fact that I can actually talk to a phyical form helps too.

And so, we talk about things. And we actually end up lunching together, still in our conversations about various subjects as the minutes go on. We smile, and laugh, and... well... we just get along well.

And that makes the world go round.

* * *

When I see Shepard next, she's sitting there... wait, is she playing video games?

No way! I rush over to the couch of the rec room, checking out the controller in her hands as she plays a video game. "Is that...?" I ask.

"An Unchained?" she asks. "You better believe it is. Thought it might be good for the crew, getting an Ushiraga system."

Hm. Looks like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all lost the console wars. I imagine Microsoft probably fell first due to that god-forsaken red ring of death, followed by Nintendo and then possibly Sony. Whatever the case, things are very different now. I look to the projection to see what game she's playing, and I raise my eyebrow. Hey, that looks kind of familiar. Third person shooter, walking down a dark hallway... And there's a wierd zombie there... that Shepard promptly dismembers in bloody detail with a gun. Wait a minute...

"Is that...?" I ask. Oh, dear, I hope it's _Dead Space, _because if they had that game in the Mass Effect universe, I would be the happiest man on earth. Seriously, it's my absolute favorite shooter, second almost to none, and really great.

"_Contact Point 3_?" she asks. Aw... Well, it's close enough. It could practically be a ripoff. "Yep. I played the first two games in the Alliance Academy and really liked them. I'm glad for this release. So far, I'm enjoying it."

I lean against the couch, watching her blast space zombies. I then eventually take a seat next to her. "You know, I really liked the first game of this series," I say. "I was never any good at shooters, but for some reason I really liked this one."

Shepard raises her eyebrows as she turns to me. "Really?" she asks. She pauses the game and holds the controller out to me. "You want to give this one a try?"

Oh, boy. Well... Hm... Oh, hey, this looks a lot like a PS3 controller. Two shoulder buttons, a select and start buttons, the face buttons with shapes (although different ones, I might add, but they're in the same place), the two analog sticks, a control pad, and the analog sticks can be depressed. All right, I think I got this.

"Sure," I say, gently taking the controller from Shepard. Okay, so last I remember it was circle to get out. Here, the symbol is an oval. Huh. That makes everything easier.

I press oval, and then I'm in the game. And I begin wandering around the decrepit hallways as the character, feeling some kind of strange tension. I walk down the hallway, and sure enough I see what looks almost exactly like a necromorph. I feel almost like I'm controlling Isaac Clarke as I gun it down and dismember its limbs. This is odd; the character I'm controlling is most obviously a woman... But hey, what can you do?

I walk into a room and see more alien life forms. I gun them all down in much the same manner. Huh. Good to know my gaming skills haven't diminished since I left Boston. I really love the immersive atmosphere of this game as I go around killing alien life forms. This is honestly almost exactly like _Dead Space_. Huh. And it's making me all misty and nostalgic. So much so that I actually have to press the plus sign (instead of X) to get something off of me. I do that, and I kick the... Lurker look-alike halfway across the room.

I already love it, and I seem to express it in the slightest ghost of a smile.

After playing the game for about half an hour, I turn back to Shepard, who also seem to be smiling. I pause and hand the controller back to her. "Thanks," I say. "It brought back some... good times."

She nods. "They're great games," she says. "I can't believe you know them. You would probably be 14 at the time the first one came out."

I shrug, smiling coyly. "Well, you know how being an Earthborn child is," I say. "Never easy, I can tell you that much. Thanks for letting me play, Joc."

She seems to return, unpausing the game. However, when the last word registers, she promptly pauses the game, and her face seems a great deal surprised as she turns back to me. She blinks, her mouth working. She finally purses her lip together and gives me a look.

"You ran into Al," she says.

I smile smugly and nod. "As a matter of fact, yes," I say. "Wrex and I ran into him taking care of some business at the Citadel."

She nods, smiling softly. "I guess he is a rather good target of running into various friends of mine," she comments.

I shrug. "He's certainly a nice guy," I mention. "A bit nervous, but nice nonetheless. Also very helpful when he commits to something. I have him to thank for helping us figure out where Wrex and I needed to go."

"He certainly is," says Shepard, looking up as she sets the controller down on the couch. "I remember when i was a teenager I would always go to him whenever my omni-tool broke." She smiles more warmly and chuckles slightly. "It was the most embarrasing thing ever. A 14 year old girl going to her 9 year old brother because she thinks her omni-tool crashed on her. And yet he always came around and fixed things for me."

I nod, smiling. "That's actually really cute," I reply. "Imagine, a nine year old fixing an omni-tool!" Wow, that image is actually rather adorable. I can see it now, the hands working at the bench to reassemble various wires. It's... cute, and very endearing.

"And then a 14 year old girl throwing it against the wall with biotic powers afterwards," says Shepard with a slight grin. "Oh, those were the days, I tell you. When we didn't have a care in the world." She pauses. "He was also a pretty good singer," she adds.

Holy shit, more things to connect him to the Explosive Underbelly V. 2 singer! "Really?" I ask. "So he was almost a musician?"

"Kind of," replies the commander. "But technology was always his love. He actually liked it more than his singing. He actually joined the Alliance to work with the technology of hacking into someone's stuff and finding things out."

Oh! Interesting. "I see..." I say with a smile. "He certainly took after the rest of the family tradition."

"We all supported him no matter what," says Shepard. "My dad told me that he was actually a little disappointed to find out that Al wanted to join the Alliance military."

"Disappointed?" I ask. Well, this is a first. I'd think military families would be happy about their children enlisting in the military. "Why?"

"Well, not in the same way I think you're thinking," replies the commander. "And plus, he didn't mind, just so long as Al was doing what he loved. Which he did, and still does."

I nod with a smile on my face. "Your family sounds like really nice people," I comment.

"They are," replies Joc. "I wouldn't give them up for the world."

"I can't wait to meet the rest of them," I say with a smile. "Well... should I ever meet them."

"You'd like them," she says, gesturing to me. "You'd probably get on their nerves, though..."

I shake my head with a goofy grin on my face. "Well, I always seem to find ways to get on everybody's nerves," I say. "Even amongst friends. So that's a given."

With this, she gives a soft laugh. "You've avoided doing that here, though," she points out.

Oh. Right. Well... "I mean, when you think about it, though... there is some looking on the bright side that needs to be done," I reply with a shrug. "So I guess we're less susceptible to getting annoyed. Maybe?"

She blinks before briefly turning back to the holo projector. With this, she shrugs. "I guess," she says. "Either way, I still can't believe you ran into Al!"

I nod with a mile as I face the holo projection. "It was certainly fun," I say. "You mind if I watch you play?"

Shepard picks up the controller. "Not at all," she says.

And with this, she resumes the game, and she picks up where I left off playing. It's around this time that I hear some footsteps behind us, and then a weight comes in on the couch. I look up and see Wrex there, looking at the holo projector as Shepard plays _Contact Point._ Otherwise known as _Dead Space _ON THE NORMANDY! Wrex looks at the holo projector before turning to Shepard and I.

"I see you're playing games on that thing," he says. He watches us for a brief period as Shepard cuts down zombies. None of us really says anything about it, but he seems intent on watching Shepard play the _Dead Space _copycat. Oh, well...

After a bit, he shifts slightly where he stands by the couch. "It looks like fun," he admits.

"That it is, Wrex," says Shepard. "Good thing this came out when it did."

"Yep," I say.

"Right," says the krogan, looking down to me. "I guess Art lost the game when you handed him the controller, eh?"

"I don't think he did," she says, turning to me. "Art?"

I smile, shrugging. "Well, I definitely didn't lose-"

Wait. That smug look on his face...

Oh... Oh, Jesus... Oh-! Mother-! Damn it, Wrex! Damn it all to fucking hell!

"Motherfucking asskicking cocksucking-! Fuck-! Shit-! Dick-!"

And all is silent as I stumble upon my word choice. Did I really just say all that? Shit... I think I did. I notice Shepard look at me in shock and terrible confusion as soon as I stop the swear string. Shit... I'm going to have to explain the game to the rest of the crew, aren't I?

Wrex bursts out laughing, followed promptly by Shepard and myself. I fall to the floor as Shepard nearly drops the controller. Shit, we're horrible people, but it's just so funny. It's just fortunate that we burst out laughing in a room cleared of zombies in-game. Ah, well. We're bonding anyway.

* * *

A little later... Wow, all these games have made me feel very nostalgic. I remember a lot of things from back home now. It's... Wow... it's making me all misty. Not good form for sitting in front of a game of solitaire trying to decide what moves to make.

Jeez... This shouldn't be getting like that. And yet I can't help myself. It really makes me think of home a lot.

I wonder how my family is doing. Especially Anneli and Augie. I feel so sorry for Augie now. My parents would have a hell of a hard time explaining what happened to me... Whatever happened. Jeez. If I disappeared... how would that be explained? At least a coma or death can be explained as him sleeping for a really long time (or as what happens to Master Oogway in _Kung Fu Panda_, now that I think about it). But disappearance, especially without a body? The poor kid would never know. I can't think of any words to explain how to tell a disabled child that, and I imagine my parents are at as much of a loss as I currently am.

Anneli... I imagine she's very concerned too. Even if we never really were that close towards the end. But still, she worked like a mentor before I came here. I wonder what she's thinking right now. I wonder, too, how this is affecting her friendships. No doubt it's got some impact on her; after all, she did come to me for a few days after the fall-out I told Tali about. I would know; it was the weekend I saw _Avatar_ with her in tow.

Wow. I suddenly realize how much I miss that small track of land I call home. It's... tough, really. Thinking about it. Which I do. A lot. Well... I'll be back soon enough.

I hear someone come up behind me. Turning back, I look to see Liara approach.

"Something troubles you," she says, looking over to me as I turn my body towards her.

I shrug, not bothering to smile. "I miss home," I say. "I'm getting a wave of nostalgia just thinking about it. I haven't been gone for too long, and yet..."

Liara seems to look over to me. "We never really lose our sense of home," she says. "That's what my mother told me when I left home. But... we can live with memories. That is one thing we have."

I nod at this, looking at the solitaire game on my omni-tool. "Of course," I say. "I just want to be able to return after all this is over."

"Somehow, we always do," she replies, understandingly. "But know that it may be in a way we do not expect."

I nod at this, and I return my attention to my game of solitaire. Well... I think I know how I'm going home, so I'll leave it at that.

The asari comes to sit next to me, asking about what I'm playing. I then explain the rules to solitaire, but my mind isn't really on the game anymore. It's back home, where I left everybody hanging. I can't stop thinking of them.

Really, I guess I never will. But hey, there's some small comfort in that.

Just hang on for a bit longer. I'll try to rejoin you soon.


	13. Chapter 12

_A/N: Okay, so Wrex is now playing the game at all times. How many more times will he get Art to creatively lose the game? We'll have to see. Just know that it will keep on going and going and going._

_So anyway, now that that chapter is over with... Let's get on to more important things. Like teaching Art how to use a sniper rifle. And then getting a debriefing. So let's get going with that!_

* * *

Chapter 12: Sniper Woes

Okay... I am not looking forward to today. Because today... is sniper rifle training.

Which sucks even more, because Shepard, Kaidan, Liara, Tali, and Wrex are all off dealing with the geth that we found out about on Feros. Ash, Garrus, and I are all staying on the Normandy. Garrus is staying and keeping himself occupied with the Unchained that Shepard now has aboard the Normandy, and Ash will be busy teaching me the sniper rifle.

It's not even that I'm not taking care of geth. It's that I know I'm going to suck with the sniper rifle. And I know I'm going to suck with it, really, really hard.

But... I have to humor Shepard, so here I am in the cargo bay. I see Ash holding two sniper rifles in her hands as she looks to me.

"Hi..." I say, not hiding how not cool I am with this arrangement.

"I guess you're dreading this, huh?" she asks.

I nod, my expression souring. "If only because I know I'm going to suck very hard at it," I reply. "But, hey, what can I do, you know?"

Ash gives me an odd look. "And why do you say that?" she asks.

Hm... Well... We'll have to see about that. "Well... Let me put it this way," I say. "It's... not my area of expertise, and it probably never will be. I'll probably miss my targets more than I hit them. You know?"

"You'll do fine," she insists as she hands me one of the sniper rifles. "Now get behind cover and we'll get started."

Right... Why do I get the feeling that something is going to go down soon?

Oh, well. I'll just go with it. I walk over behind the crates next to Ash as I suddenly notice some rather small targets. Like, some rather small targets. Shit... This is not going to go well.

"Right," she says. "Those targets will be what we work with. Recoil for a sniper rifle works similar to that of an assault rifle, so you should be able to keep the recoil in check."

I nod at this. Okay, remember to think of it like an assault rifle, then. "All right," I say. "Got it. So... the targets..."

"Yes," she says. "I want you to hit at least ten before you run out of bullets in your clip."

Right... I don't know how this will be. I mean... Oh, bloody hell. I'll just look through the scope.

I do that, and I see that there are at least twenty targets there. I peer around with the scope, all of them seeming to be really far away from there. I see all twenty eventually.

"Right," I say. "I... guess it starts now?"

"Whenever you're ready," replies the gunnery chief.

And instantly, I notice that the scope is jerking slightly from where my front hand is. Shit... I can't even keep the gun straight. I look into the scope, breathing in and out to try to relax it... And yet, it doesn't work. It just doesn't. I try to aim for a target, and see the scope shaking. Shit.. get it in the center... Okay... that's it.

I fire, prepared for the recoil. I look into the scope, breathing in and out as I see...

Oh, damn it, I missed! I look out of the scope briefly to check on my front hand. Shit... It's tense. And if I know anything from viola, tense fingers are never a good sign. Shit... Okay, relax. Let's try to hit that target again.

I peer back into the scope, concentrating on the same target. I swear as I miss the target again, the bullet whizzing by. Okay... My hand seriously needs to stop shaking. Now. Although... the more I think about it, the more it might be shaking...

Right... Think of that one Hindemith sonata with the quarter note value being six-hundred beats per minute. Yeah... And the last movement. How tragic it all is. How everything has been utterly destroyed... And how all that's left to do is to mourn... Mourn the death of this target...

...Which has now brought me to the Barber Adagio for Strings for some reason. Right...

My hand pulls the trigger, and then, to my surprise, it hits the target.

All right. One target down!

... Nine to go, with eight bullets in this clip. Shitfucker.

Well... I might as well get as many targets as I can.

All right, look for target eight... Okay, now calm down, think about something else... Boom, headshot! And another target down. Okay... moving on... Target in sight... And another one down. I keep on picking off targets in this way, taking a few seconds to calm my hands down. Okay... That's it. There's another target taken down. Another hit gotten. Another necromorph head-shotted. Another god of Olympus taken down.

Another lame reference based on shooting something. Okay, yeah, that train is failing fast. As I go about... I'm suddenly noticing I'm spending a little less time forcing myself to calm down. Well, that's a relief. I guess. But... Really?

I shoot the last target, and notice that I hit it dead in the center. Okay... I got nine targets. Ah, well, it's close enough. I pull the trigger just to make sure that the clip is empty. When I don't get a response, I nod and sit back to face Ash.

"Nine targets," I say. "Not optimal, but hey..."

The gunnery chief simply smiles. "Not optimal?" she asks. "Honestly, it was more in how you need to calm down a bit while handling a sniper rifle."

Wait, what? "Wait... so all that...?"

Ash nods, crossing her arms. "You need to learn to calm down," she says. "You complaints don't seem to have much basis, not to mention they get a little annoying given how you capitalize on it."

"Hey!" I shout, frowning.

"Well, it's true," she says. "I just proved that you can in fact snipe things. From the way you sounded, it looked as if you would miss all the targets. But... you did pretty good. We'll be in here a little longer for today."

I exhale softly, shaking my head as I look at the sniper rifle in my hands. "Oh, dear..." I groan.

And almost immediately, I regret this. Shit, I should've remembered that Ash is right fucking there! "It's only until you manage to take down the rest of the targets!" she retorts, her tone conveying some sense of her annoyance as she crosses her arms.

I blink tentatively, before losing my annoyed demeanor. "Oh, okay then," I reply. "I guess I could do that."

I look to the side and see some new clips. I pop the one in there out, and then reload the rifle.

"Oh, and they're moving now," she says, working a bit on her omni tool.

Oh, cockpuncher! I look to the side and see all of the targets move side by side. Shit... It's like the target test in _Super Smash Brothers_. Only instead of a beloved Nintendo character, it's a sniper rifle.

Fuck a duck!

I bring the rifle to my eyes and look into the scope. Well... They're moving at varying speeds. Let's try to get the faster ones first, and then the slower ones. Let's move!

I bring into focus one of the moving targets. Okay, focus... Follow the target as best you can... Actually, wow, this is a lot easier to control than it is with an analog stick, I can say that much. At least you can control the rate you follow your target. Hm. I guess I may be able to do this after all.

I follow the target, and with calm hands, I pull the trigger.

* * *

And... I missed most of the targets... At least for the first several shots. Now that the targets are all taken down, however, I think I've made... well... some progress...

Ash stands behind me as I look up, wiping some sweat off of my brow as I see the gunnery chief walk towards me.

"See?" she asks. "You underestimate your worth. You're not that bad a gunman, honestly."

I shake my head. "Sometimes, I don't feel like it," I reply, getting up. "Especially starting out with said guns. It's just... You know, being under stress and all that..." And not just the stress of everything going on around us. With Virmire coming ever closer...

She comes up behind me as I stand up, shrugging. "Still," she says. "A good Alliance soldier rarely complains. I see you do that a lot."

I raise my eyebrows. "I'm a musician by trade," I say. "Usually, I'm better at keeping my complaints to myself. But... I guess I still don't see myself as a soldier. I probably never will..."

The gunnery chief looks over to me, before leaving a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe you never will," she says. "But you're not as bad a soldier as you think. You were called on to step up to the plate. And you've done a great job of doing just that so far."

Her hand leaves my shoulder, and then she walks away briefly. As she does so, I glance down at the floor. "I guess I have come a long way from being the out of shape loser I was before I came here," I observe, looking at the sniper rifle in my hand. Actually... I didn't think I could ever use a firearm when I first got here. And yet... "You know, now that I think about it? I don't think I suck as much as I thought I would. That's... a bit shocking..."

"He went like one that hath been stunned,/And is of sense forlorn:/A sadder and a wiser man/He rose the morrow morn." Ash states this as she turns back to face me.

Oh, right, her love of Romantic-era poetry. I raise my eyebrows, playing along. "Samuel Taylor Coleridge?" I ask walking away from the crates. "I never knew you to be the type to be into Romantic poetry."

She looks over at the ceiling, getting all sentimental. "It came from memorizing my father's favorite poem," she says. "And besides, you're not the only one who's into art on this ship."

Oh, boy, I think I have an opportunity to get back at her over something. "And what was that about distractions you were telling me about earlier?" I ask, a playful smirk lighting up on my face as I cross my arms.

She blinks, looking over to me. "Good point..." she says. "But still, you're much more easily distracted than most."

Hey, I was put on concerta and ritalin throughout elementary and middle school for a reason, you know! "You know me," I say. "But I try my best to pay attention."

The Gunnery Chief slowly walks out. "Good," she says. "Don't get too distracted, Serviceman. I've noticed you're getting a little grim lately."

I glance over to her. Oh, dear, Ash. You have no- wait. Grim? "Grim?" I ask. "Have I been acting grim lately?"

She turns as she leaves. "Something's on your mind," she says. "Something that's making you smile a little less than usual. We can all tell."

Hm... Well, that's a little alarming. Well... I can cover my ass still. "It's just thoughts," I say, looking up. "I've been thinking about things more than ever before today. Just... things... like death... I always have a preoccupation with death, even if it rarely ever shows. For some reason, I'm thinking about it a lot more than usual."

Ash nods. "Don't let it get to you," says the Gunnery Chief. "As long as Shepard is around, we'll pull through. You'll make it out of this alive, Serviceman. Don't worry." She heads for the exit, turning to me. "When you're feeling a little happier, I'll be where I always am," she finishes. "You've done good work, Serviceman."

And with this, she leaves the cargo bay. I look back to where she is. Shit, Virmire is coming up soon. And then it's going to be Kaidan... Or Ash...

Shit... It's going to be coming soon. We don't have any more missions to tack on after this mission with the geth unless the 'Bring Down the Sky' DLC needs to be taken on... But at this stage, I doubt it. After all, we have almost no missions that are left on the waiting list... Shit... This is extremely disturbing. I knew Virmire would be coming from the moment I stepped in to save Tali. But I didn't think it would be coming so soon...

"It's not me that I'm worried about..." I whisper to myself as I look over to where Ash just exited the cargo bay. "It's you..."

And with this, I sit there, allowing myself to think a little more on the subject.

* * *

Wow... I just can't get Virmire off my mind... What if I don't get to go back home? What if I wind up dying instead? Wow...

I didn't think I'd ever get so many doubts about a single decision. What if it goes wrong? What if I die for real? What if the bomb doesn't go off? What if I wind up with Kirrahe's men? What...

There are too many what ifs. And it's kind of scaring me a little as I sit in the rec room. I've just been thinking for the past few minutes about it. Too much, I think... This... is really bad form. But I can't help myself. What if nothing goes according to how I think it will? What then?

I see Garrus come over and sit at the table next to me. When I notice him there, I nod.

"Hey, Garrus," I say.

The turian instantly seems to know something is wrong. "Hey," he says. "You've been seeming pretty down lately. What's going on?"

Nah. I can't tell you that, Garrus. "I don't feel like talking about it," I say. "It's nothing that'll get in the way of stopping Saren anyhow."

Garrus nods at this, and he sits back. "Doesn't stop the fact that this is odd for you," he says. "You're usually more... ah... cheery than this."

"Maybe someday I'll tell you about it," I reply. "Maybe not." Definitely leaning closer to 'maybe not', even if I do survive Virmire. "I just tend to have grave thoughts on my mind more so than you'd like to think. My own death is something I think about all the time."

The C-Sec officer leans back in his seat. "I never knew you to be the kind to think about death."

I shake my head, chuckling mirthlessly. Yeah, there's a lot more to me than meets the eye, Garrus. "Yeah," I say. "I sometimes wonder what kind of imprint I'll leave behind when I'm gone." And it's not just because I'm here. I _always_ think about it. Even when I was back home, it was a thought that rarely left my mind. "Sometimes... that though frightens me. What'll people think after I'm gone?"

Garrus looks at me, his eyes seeming to glow in understanding as he crosses his arms. "I don't know," he says. "But whatever it is... I think you'll be remembered fondly. You're a nice kid, Art. Sure, you sound very odd, but you're a good person, always willing to help out. We could use more of that."

I look up to him. His mandibles work slightly, and I give him a soft smile of appreciation. Sometimes a few words are all we need. I guess I'll be remembered fondly...

"Thanks," I say, offering a small hand gesture.

My companion leans against the table I'm leaning on. "But that can't be all," he says. "I haven't seen you get like this..."

Well... I guess I should just go out and ask. I mean, he's asking politely, so the least I can do is give him some kind of feedback on it. But how to do it without revealing too much... Hm... Maybe if I ask instead of just outright tell...

"There's also been something I've been preoccupied with," I admit, sitting up from where I was. "Garrus... Can I ask your opinion on something?"

The turian at first seems surprised at this, but before he can point it out he leans forward. "What is it?" he asks.

I swallow. Okay... I can ask him. Just don't reveal too much. "If... If you were to make a choice..." I begin. Shit... Okay, just calm down. "And the option you decided to take led either to death or something else, and that something else is a very, very uncertain outcome..." I swallow. "And if you doubted it would work... Would you do it?"

Garrus leans his head to the side before regarding me. "I would," he says. "You forget that I have a history of working with C-Sec. I would just do it, regardless of cost to you. Because really, what do you have to lose?"

A family, friends, life... the list goes on, man. "That's true, I guess," I say. "It's just I've got a horrible feeling that something really terrible is going to go down soon..." Well, that and I _know_, but... "And I feel that someone's going to have to make a decision..."

The turian nods. "If you feel it's your decision, go through with it," he encourages me. "Hopefully the end result will be for the better."

That's what I hope. Okay. I'll go through with my plans to die at Virmire. Okay. A single pep talk with a turian is all I need to make me feel pretty good about myself. "Thanks, Garrus," I say. "I... I think I feel a bit better now."

"Hey, anytime," he says. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"I'll try to," I say. Well, honestly, I'd rather go to Wrex or Tali for that kind of thing. But it's still nice that he's offering.

I smile as he leaves the rec room, and I'm left sitting there. Okay. I'll go ahead and try to die.

You know what? I feel a little better already. At least if I die for real I can be remembered well. Maybe I'll be given a heroic death. Maybe be like Sanjuro; the no-name man that came from nowhere and mysteriously saved people from terrible misdeeds. Sure, I would only be a shadow to Shepard... But I won't be rememered terribly. It'll be likethat even if I don't die and go back home. I'll have taken some kind of understanding home with me, and I'll be happy.

Yeah... This isn't too bad. I'm just overreacting. You just need to calm down.

With this, I move over to the Unchained. I think I could start a new file for _Contact Point 3_. The fact that it's like _Dead Space_ should help me take my mind off of things.

And so I fire up the Unchained, grabbing the controller as I load the game and wait to play around a bit.

* * *

I got to get about an hour and a half into the game when I was forced to run to a save point since Shepard and the ground team was reporting back. We all have to be at the debriefing room now, so I get over there.

I look over to the debriefing room, feeling much more comfortable than I did. Wow... It's astounding how far I've come. I didn't think I'd ever get to know any of these people, and yet I've become great friends with Tali and Wrex, had friendly relations with Liara and Garrus, had good times with Ash, got to admire Shepard's commanding abilities, and get looked at strangely by Kaidan. I think Kaidan is definitely on to me somehow. I just know it. He's been looking at me strangely a lot lately...

But I have to hold it together. Virmire is coming up. I can feel it.

Shepard looks over to the rest of us, nodding before beginning her talk.

"The geth there weren't important," she begins. "They had overflowed, but there was nothing about any involvement of Saren's. So we took them out. Good thing too; they likely would have been a threat to the system."

"Well, that's a good thing," says Garrus.

Liara glances over to us. "Indeed," she says. "But something about the geth's placement here disturbs me."

I raise my eyebrows. "Why?" I ask. "If they weren't affiliated with Saren for some reason... then that should be a good thing, right?"

Wrex chuckled gravely. "As if," he says. "More geth are more problems for us."

Ash nods her agreement. "As if we didn't have enough with Saren, we had this group to deal with," she says.

I nod in understanding. They do actually have a pretty good point. "I see..." I say. "Well... at least we got them. So if that happened... What now? Do we go back and wait further instruction?"

Shepard shakes her head. "If it were that simple, Saren would likely have been brought to answer for his crimes," she comments. "As it is... We have a bigger problem waiting for us. A problem that the Council sent us on just before this debriefing session. Which means that this is now also a briefing for something else, as we cannot waste time at the Citadel."

Oh, no... "The Council told me that they received a transmission from a planet that I haven't even heard of," she continues. "Apparently, a distorted communication came through from a team there that has information on Saren. We'll be heading to this planet, where we'll rendevouz with Captain Kirrahe of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG." Shit... I knew it... "We'll get further instructions there."

"That doesn't sound good," says Ash.

I shake my head as Tali speaks. "It certainly doesn't," she says. "What's Saren planning in there?"

"The transmission was unclear," replies the Commander. "We'll have to go to the planet. We'll have all of our questions answered there." Not like me...

The others nod. I'm a little hesitant as I bring my hands together in my lap. "And what's the name of this planet?" asks Kaidan.

Shepard looks to all of us. Shit...

"Virmire."

My mouth barely moves as the commander says this.

The wham episode... The thing that determined whether Ash or Kaidan died... The mission that changed everything... The mission where Wrex could potentially die... The mission that the salarians will prove their worth in... The mission that revealed Ilos to be the location of the Conduit... The beginning of the end of Saren...

It's finally here.

And I'm not ready for it.

The rest of the breifing session goes by, but I don't know what the hell goes on around me. It's here. Virmire is finally here. I've been knowing it's coming... But now that we're actually faced with it...

Fuck... I don't know what's worse; the fact that I may not be going home, or the fact that I don't think I've spent enough time around here... I don't know. It's just... Why did it have to come so soon?

Oh, well... No time for looking back. I have to do what I must. And that means I'll get that datapad, write the note, and leave that orange thing on my bed when I leave the place for the last time. And then...

And then... I have to say goodbye. I have to say goodbye to all the friends I've gotten over the past few weeks... Shit... It's harder than I think it is. I'm going to die at Virmire to every one of these people if everything turns out in my favor. And I'm never going to see them again... Well, not entirely anyway. I still have the _Mass Effect_ games to fall back on. But that... I know it won't be enough. They'll never really capture that lustre in Wrex's eye when he's amused by something. They'll never capture the way Tali moves when she's so excited by something new... It won't capture the nuances of Garrus' body language... Or the way Ash seems to sway just the slightest bit to the rhythms of the poetry she loves so much... It won't capture the inky blackness of an asari's eye when they say 'embrace eternity'... There'll be no Albert Shepard for me to think about unless I do stuff... Joc Shepard also just won't be the same since I'll be controlling her.

Shit... Leaving this universe is harder than I thought it would be. I'll never think of _Mass Effect _the same way again once I get home. Saying goodbye is harder than it has any right to be... Fuck... This is... unreal. Virmire is finally here...

And I can't stop thinking about it...

Oh... Well... I'll be back home soon, I guess. That'll be enough.

So if it's supposed to be enough, why do I feel like I'm making some kind of mistake?

"Art?"

Kaidan's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I nearly jolt in my seat as I look up. I glance around as well to see... Wow, shit, my thoughts wandered so far I didn't even notice everybody leaving the room.

Shit... I look over to Kaidan.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asks. "You seemed like you were looking at a ghost. And... I think you know a bit too much."

"Why?" I say again. Stupid question on my part, though...

The biotic crosses his arms. "Well, I was pretty sure I saw you mouth the name of the planet at the same time Shepard did." Yep, that had to be the only explanation he would have for suspecting something. I guess small motion is more noticeable by a biotic than I had hoped. "Art, is something wrong?"

I blink. After a few seconds, I rub my eyes, looking over to the biotic. Well... I guess I might as well get started with saying goodbye. And feed a half-truth to him to calm his suspicions of me.

All right, here goes.

"Well... I've been having these... dreams," I say. "Of death in an oddly specific way."

Kaidan raises an eyebrow. "Prophetic dreams?" he asks. "You're... also the only one I know of that has those."

Well... I wouldn't put it like that, but... "Hey, it happens," I say. "At any rate, I don't think they're prophetic, so much as something else. But I can't help but get a little concerned about the contents of my dreams." I take a breath, looking over to him. "I keep seeing this base, and this bomb going off and destroying everything. And somewhere... I see someone being left behind, being caught in the explosion. Not so bad, but it's a nuclear bomb we're talking about here."

"Fear of death?" asks the Lieutenant. "We all have that. You're just letting it get to you."

I shake my head, rubbing my eyes. "But I have the terrible feeling it might happen on this planet," I say, gesturing. "Because then I keep hearing this voice call out 'Virmire' when I wake up, despite the fact that I've never heard of it before. And... I'm afraid, Alenko. I'm really, really afraid... What if there is a nuke? What if something happens where someone gets left there when it goes off? What then? I... I'm terrified, Kaidan. And I'm not sure what to do about it."

That last part isn't a lie, either; I really am afraid, even if it's not for the reasons he might think I am. I just can't help but keep second-guessing myself here. There are so many what ifs it's almost terrifying. And frankly, that scares me the most out of everything here.

Kaidan raises his eyebrow as I stand up. He places his hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "Hey," he says. "You know that Shepard will do her best to make sure that we all come out of this alive. There's no need to worry..."

"And yet I can't help but worry," I reply, biting my lower lip before continuing. "I just can't shake this feeling that something horrible is going to happen."

The biotic simply pats my shoulder once before stepping back. "I still don't think you're being completely honest with me," he says, crossing his arms. Oh, shit, I'm in trouble... I'm in- "But I can see that you're still concerned about us all. So I'll take your word for it." Oh. Okay. I can live with that. "I'm sure it's just a dream... but I'll keep it in mind. And you shouldn't worry. Things will turn out all right. Trust me. We'll do our best to make it so."

I shake my head. "I'm not sure it's something within your direct control," I reply. "But... I'll live with that. Just in case it comes down to that, though..." I guess I better say goodbye. "I hope things work out between you and the Commander. And I've had good times serving with you on the Normandy."

The biotic nods at this, a small smile on his face as he regards me. "Likewise," he says. "I still think there's something off about you. But really? I don't think it matters. You're a good soldier, and a loyal one if any. It's been good, if things come to blows."

I nod. It's good to know that even the suspicious one still thinks I can be trusted. "Thanks," I say.

He simply nods before leaving the briefing room. I stand there for a few more seconds, looking at the chairs. I always thought these were odd chairs, but they were still so comfortable it was nice. I'd take those chairs over the fucking things we've got to sit on during gigs.

Oh, well. I better go write that note. And then leave that orange thing there. Huh. I figured my questions on it would get answered before I left. I guess I was wrong. I'll pass the torch to someone else on the Normandy, though. Hopefully they'll get it and hang on to it.

But for now, I'm wondering what my parents will say when I return home. What will everyone say when I come back? I can only hope it'll be as good as Garrus says everyone's opinions of me here will be...


	14. Chapter 13

_A/N: And, the Wham Episode is finally here. These next few chapters will likely be the most dramatic chapters in Mass Vexations without a doubt. But the next few chapters will also be very action packed, especially the last of the Virmire chapters. For now, though, we'll get some goodbyes from some people on the crew._

_So the questions begin. What will Art say to not give himself away? What will happen next? Where is Art going to go? These and more questions shall be answered very soon._

_So let's get started._

* * *

Chapter 13: To Virmire

_To whoever finds this:_

_It is good that you came here when you did. I'm leaving something here. Something that someone else may find useful._

_See, Matriarch Benezia gave it to me before she died. She told me never to tell anyone of its existence, and she told me to keep it on me at all times. Frankly, this seems a bit hard now given the fact that if you're reading this I'm most likely dead._

_It should be on the bed in front of you. If you find this paperweight... whatever it is... hang on to it. She told me to keep it on my person at all times. I'll advise whoever finds this to do the same. And if you're wondering what it is, your guess is as good as mine. Benezia didn't know either._

_-Art *********_

I gaze upon the note and the paperweight as I set the data pad down on the bed. The paperweight is taped down to the bed to keep it from getting overly jostled. Hopefully, it won't get found before anybody can comment, and it won't be destroyed by anything. Well, it can't, because by the time the destruction of the Normandy occurs someone will likely have found that orange paperweight anyway.

I just hope they'll believe me.

I give one last glance there. Okay, this looks about right. From here on out, we're nearing Virmire, so I'm going to see what's up with Shepard.

I leave my quarters and go wandering around the ship, as I'm usually prone to doing when I don't really have anything better to do.

I eventually find her in the rec area, looking over something on the table. She seems a little lost in thought, her fingers drumming against the table she's sitting at as she looks over to the far wall of the ship. Hm... Something's up with her. But what...? I approach, and then sit next to her.

"Hey, Shepard," I say. "What's up?"

The commander just gives me a shrug. "Kaidan told me about your terrible feeling," she says.

Oh. Well... Okay. That explains things a bit. "Oh?" I ask. "It is just a feeling, though. Nothing you really need to worry about."

Shepard nods at this. "Maybe so," she replies. "But as a Commander... I have to keep everyone's opinion in mind... And the fact that you think someone could die on this mission is making me a little cautious."

"You're Commander Shepard," I reply, smiling. "There's nothing you can't do." Especially when Part 2 comes around.

Joc shakes her head briefly. "Not exactly," she says. "People die on missions more than you'd like. We've been lucky so far. But the fact that you're fearing the same thing is making me wonder if our luck is going to run out." I notice hier fingers tap against the table briefly before she continues. "I shouldn't be this worried about something..."

Hm... She certainly doesn't look composed. That much is for damn sure. Hm... Well, Kaidan did say something about the commander... Maybe there's something she's not telling me. No, there has to be something she's not telling me. I can tell from the look in her eyes. I shift slightly in my seat as I notice her disturbed expression.

"This isn't just because you're a commander," I say. "There's something else on your mind."

Shepard blinks before looking over to me. "Am I that easy to read?" she asks.

Hm, now there's a thought. "Yes," I reply. At least, in my case. I can read you pretty easily, because I flippin' _controlled _your ass. So I can tell what your weaknesses are, and when you're thinking of things other than being a commander. And also, because Kaidan mentioned the same thing.

She nods at this. "Well... I'm worried about Kaidan," she says. "If any person is in danger of dying... I want it to be him least of all."

Hm... I see what you did there! "You care about him, don't you?" I ask, leaning back against the chair I'm sitting in.

She replies with a simple nod, looking over to me finally. "You could say that," she says. "I care for Kaidan more than I care to admit. I admit losing him would be hardest for me as a commander. No, not as a commander. As a person."

Huh. So the Kaidan/Shepard here is going especially strong. Well... Nobody said I couldn't influence events. At least in this case I can hide behind the fact that I'm not specifically talking about any mission or any nukes or whatever. Yeah, I think I can get away with this. Plus, it'll increase my chances of not being on Shepard's team when she has to make her choice. So... Here goes...

"Keep Kaidan by your side throughout the coming mission," I say, leaning forward so that my arms are on the table. "If you do that, I think he should be fine. And then you can keep turning to him and reminding yourself that yes, he's still there. And keep him there, no matter what happens."

She nods, and a soft smile graces her featues. "You think that'll work?" she asks.

"Of course," I say. After all, I saw the decision you'll have to make for myself well before we met.

She nods. "Thanks, Art," she says.

I nod. "No problem," I say. Okay... I think now is as good a time as any to say goodbye to Shepard. "And if it ends up being more than just a feeling and I'm the one who goes..." Shit, there's a lump in my throat. This is getting harder than it really should be. "It's been a real honor being a soldier under your command."

She turns to me and regards me with a soft smile. "If I can help it, I'll be getting all of us out of there alive," she says. "But you've been a good soldier nonetheless."

Okay, so I'm a good soldier. And a friend, she seems to be saying with her eyes. I nod at this, and then we look over by the table. I glance to the side before turning to Shepard.

"Well... I'm gonna go make my rounds around the ship," I say. "I'll be wandering around if you need anything."

With this, I step down from the chair and Shepard nods. "You'll be staying on the Normandy before we rendevouz with Kirrahe in case somethng comes up."

I nod. Okay, that'll buy me some time to say goodbye. Because I know we're going to have trouble with that anti-spacecraft gun. "All right," I say.

And with this, I leave the rec area with a slight spring in my step. All right, that's Kaidan and Shepard. Now I have to find Liara, Garrus, Ash, Tali, and Wrex and say goodbye to them...

...However that may come.

* * *

We're approaching Virmire; according to Joker we're only a hour away now. So I might as well go around the Normandy and make some more rounds.

When I find Liara next, she's sitting alone in the mess hall, seemingly contemplating about things. I raise my eyebrows before walking over to her, sitting down by the table.

"Hey, Liara," I say with a soft smile on my face. "How are you?"

"I think I am all right," she says, her voice sounding a little distantly. "I was thinking about my mother again."

Oh. Oh dear... I blink at this. "Oh..." I say. "Well... I..."

Liara's look is reassuring as she continues. "It is all right," she says. "I am past grief now. Now all that remains is my memories of her. I always find myself thiking about her."

I nod at this. "I see," I reply. "What do you think will come of this mission?"

"I hope to find the location of the Conduit afterwards," she says. "Unscrambling Shepard's visions have been... difficult. I am hoping that when we debrief next we may be able to tell the location of the Conduit."

... And now I'm hoping that asari can't read minds in addition to being innate biotics. Well... apart from when they embrace eternity anyhow. "I'm sure it'll present itself the next time we come for Shepard's vision," I reply. "At least, it better, or there'll be major hell to pay."

She nods at this. "I personally feel it is only a matter of time," she says. "If I can unscramble it further, I may be able to see what is left. And then the location of the Conduit shall be revealed. And then we can stop Saren."

Not if the Council has anything to say about that, the stupid asswipes. "Hopefully, we can," I say. "Or... you guys can, anyway."

Liara shifts slightly in her seat. "Why not you as well?" she asks. "You have done great work with us."

I shrug. "It depends... I've been having a bit of a fear of something going terribly wrong," I reply. "And I'm afraid I might be at the center of it..."

The asari gives me a rather odd look. "I see..." she says. "Such feelings of foreboding may be seen as a sign. I would not know..."

I nod, bringing my arms on the table. "I... I kind of wanted to ask," I say. "But... did the Protheans have any concept of an afterlife? One they might have left clues to?"

Liara's spine is erect very quickly as she looks at me. "Why do you ask?" she says.

"Curiosity," I reply with a hand gesture. "No, I'm not planning on killing myself." In the conventional sense, anyway.

The asari sits a little perplexedly at first. I see her features relax, though, as she settles back into where she's sitting. "Oh," she says. "Well... I do not know much about this, but the Protheans believed in a world where the dead roam aimlessly. They are accompanied by whoever they wish, but their soul always roams. Occasionally they may interact with a dreamer, but that is their only link to the living world. Otherwise, their goal is to head to a city in the center, where all journeys must end. And from there, the cycle starts anew."

I smile softly at his. "That sounds... serene," I say. "Almost beautiful, in its own wierd kind of way."

"It certainly sounds as such," comments the asari. "It is certainly a wonderful vision of the afterlife, if only for the promise of being reborn."

I nod. "I wonder what this city has..." I say. "I wonder what it looks like... Probably something incredibly grand."

"Maybe," says the asari. "We will never know for sure."

"Probably not," I say. "But I'm getting a bit sidetracked. If this feeling I've got is going to turn out as I think it will... I wanted to let you know that it was good knowing you."

"And I you," replies the asari with a soft smile on her features. "Let us just hope that this feeling is only that."

And with this, I stand up, taking leave of the asari. "I'll see you around if that's the case," I say, smiling.

She simply replies with a nod, and then I walk away. Well... That was certainly more calming than I thought it would be. It was kind of like going to a spa and stuff. But anyway, that makes Kaidan, Shepard, and Liara that I've said goodbye to. Three down, four to go. I'm already half-way there.

Good thing too, because we're approaching Virmire very quickly. And I'm going to have time for maybe one goodbye before we touch down on the planet.

* * *

We get to the planet. Exactly as I predict we have to stay out here until Shepard takes out the guns. And I'm not going with her, as she says that someone has to stay behind to greet Kirrahe. I've gotten into my combat gear and followed everyone else out into the cargo bay. Shepard boards the Mako quickly as Tali, Liara, Wrex, and Garrus all prepare themselves to touch down onto the planet. Tali is busy talking to Liara about something, Wrex simply jumps in, and I see Garrus working on some very last-minute calibrations.

Hm. I might as well use this time to say goodbye to him. He seems to be on his own as the bay's door opens. I approach, and he gives me an acknowledging glance as he gets to work.

"You know..." I begin. "We've come a long way since the Citadel. Don't you think?"

Garrus only nods his agreement. "That we have," he says. "Is there any reason you're here?"

I shrug. "I don't know if you've heard about this feeling I have...?" I ask. "It's been seeming to go about the ship pretty quickly."

The turian halts his calibrations, doing a brief bit by heart on his sniper rifle before storing it on his weapons rack on his back. "Yeah, I've heard," he says. "What I say? Don't worry about it. It's only just a feeling."

I nod at this. Well... wait, wasn't there that one talk with him... "It's not just because you heard, isn't it?" I ask him then.

He turns to me briefly. "Your question about decisions sort of clued me in about your bad feeling," he says. "Personally, I think you're just fretting. We'll be fine."

I nod to him. "But just in case..." I say. "I just thought I'd let you know it's been great knowing you, Garrus. I never thought I'd befriend a turian, but you're pretty awesome no matter what."

The turian beams over at me as he checks his assault rifle one last time before heading to the Mako. "Same here," he says. "It's been good knowing you for as long as I have."

I smile back and wave. The turian struts off to the Mako as Shepard and the rest of her team board. The bay door is open as the ground of Virmire approaches, and I'm suddenly aware of how powerful the artificial gravity is on board the Normandy. I watch then, as the Mako drives off the Normandy and onto the ground of Virmire below. Okay. Now they're off to disable the defense towers. Now we just have to wait until we get to the salarian camp.

I hear someone coming up behind me. I turn my head to see Kaidan walking over. "You're taking this feeling seriously," he notes.

I shrug. "I've learned not to question my hunches," I say. "Because usually, they turn out being right." My multiple delusions of grandeur in composition, on the other hand...

"I have a feeling this is more than just a hunch," he replies. "If you're taking it so seriously, that is."

Well... You're certainly getting good at catching on, Mr. Alenko. "Possibly," I say. "But then, so do my other hunches. I'll be waiting around until we hit the planet itself."

And with this, I move around the bay, hoping to exit it as the Normandy pulls away from the ground just the slightest bit.

* * *

A few minutes later, I find Ash standing by herself over somewhere. I come up next to her and nod. She notices me there, and then adjusts something on her armor as she turns to face me.

"Hey, Ash," I say. "Worried about the coming mission?"

"Not as much as you are, I'm sure," she says. "Kaidan told me about your feeling. I say, don't worry about it. It's not like any one of us will die anyway."

Oh, god damn it, you're not helping, Ash! Word spreads around the Normandy pretty quickly, that's for sure. But you're just making it harder not to crack. "I'm not worried about myself, just so you know," I reply. "I'm worried about everyone."

My tutor nods. "Don't worry," she says. "We'll all get out alive. But if you're here to say something regardless..."

I nod to Ash. "Well... I just wanted to say that first of all, you're a damn good teacher," I say with a smile. "Even if you were a bit bitchy during sniper rifle training, and even then that wasn't totally your fault. And then... I guess I just like how you are sometimes."

The Gunnery Chief nods. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were falling for me," she quips. Uh... maybe? I dunno. I would probably try to romance you in ME1 if only because Liara becomes such a bitch in ME2. "But... still, it's nice to see that you care. You're actually not a bad person at all. We need more soldiers like you in the Alliance. Just, with less distractions."

I shake my head. "Again with the distractions?" I ask. "Aren't you forgetting I'm not exactly an Alliance soldier?"

"I like to think of you as one," replies Ash simply. "It's just easier somehow. Why?"

I shrug, closing my eyes briefly. "In my heart I'll always be a musician," I reply. "It's how I will always feel. And Alliance soldier or no, it's how I intend to keep it. Call it a distraction or whatever but nobody in the music world got around by letting themselves get bogged down by Alliance regs."

"Right," she says. "But still, you're a good soldier. If you're not keen on joining the Alliance, you'd make a good crewman on one of their ships."

"No." And I shoot that idea down quickly. "I'd make a terrible crewman!"

Ash shakes her head. "If you make a good soldier, you make a good crewman," she says.

"Either way, I'm not too keen on doing things like that," I say. "Just, please respect my choice of occupation and we'll leave it at that, m'kay?"

Ash pouts briefly, giving me a rather icy look as she finally nods. "Fine," she says. "Military band?"

Military band? Oh. That's a thought. Well... I could, but... "See, I don't think they use string instruments in military bands," I reply. "If I played something other than violin or viola, maybe, but as it is I don't think that's open to me." That, and I don't really like that kind of music anyway. Unless atonal marches have sort of become the hip thing to do?

"Oh," she says. "I see... Then... maybe you could stay around in the Citadel?"

Now _there's _a thought I can get behind. I turn to her with a smile. "If I get out of Virmire alive?" I ask. "Sure. I think that could be arranged."

"Then what about your friend on Earth?" she asks.

Well... There is more than one way to kill a cat. "I think they'll understand," I reply. "I always wanted to get out of that dump of a planet anyhow. And now that I have..."

Ash gives me a soft smile. "Just be sure to visit Earth to let them know," she says. Ha, like I'll be doing that anytime soon. "And it's been great teaching you even with your... uh... choice of occupation."

Ah, I see what you did there. "That was a nice save," I reply. "I'll see you when we touch down on Virmire."

And with this, I leave her be as I go to check my stuff one last time before the inevitable touch onto the planet.

* * *

Yeah, I'm keeping my sniper rifle here. I'm not going to use it on Virmire, so I go out and get my shotgun, assault rifle, and pistol. All right, there's my usual ensemble. Now let's put it to good use.

I leave the lockers then and walk out towards the cargo bay. I see the door opening, and the world of Virmire stretching out as the cargo bay opens. I see that we're approaching the salarian camp, and I see the white sands of Virmire approach.

Kaidan and Ash arrive, and I nod to them as I look over to the open cargo bay door. I walk over to it, and then I feel the Normandy touch down on the ground of Virmire.

All right. We're at the planet. And... I'm walking onto the sands...

Now.

I step outside, and suddenly I feel like Sam Worthington's character in _Avatar _when he steps... err... _wheels_ his way onto Pandora for the first time. Virmire is really, really beautiful. Yeah, XBox 360 graphics don't do this place any justice at all. The white sands... the palm trees... the crystal clear water that is no doubt an homage to the Carribean Sea right now... the walls far away... the beautiful, cloudless skies overhead...

I think I'm part of the way back home.

Wait... if I'm halfway back home... Oh, shit. It's hot here. I see mosquitos flying around over there. The water is probably infested with sharks. And the air is humid, meaning my sweat is going to stick to my face and it is going to annoy me longer than it has any right to.

FML. It's a tropical paradise, all right. Tropical paradise, including all the things nobody really wants to talk about.

But hey, it looks more beautiful than Miami given that it's not overindustrialized yet. Well... except for the fact that it's all going to be nuclear ash by the time we leave, but hey, what can you do? It looks lovely.

I wonder if this is what my parents would look at when they grew up in Cuba...

Right. I think it's time. We see a bunch of salarians greet us. At the head is a green salarian with scars on some parts of his face. He's frowning a little bit.

Why, hello there, Captain Kirrahe. I'm good, how are you?

"Is this it?" he asks us. "Is this all the Council sent? Just this one ship?"

...

Fuck you too.


	15. Chapter 14

_A/N: Okay__. Last time, we got a bunch of goodbyes out of the way._

_This time, we advance the drama on Virmire forward. And yes, this chapter will have Wrex's fate put on full display in this chapter, as well as what happens to Art on the mission. And it will be quite something to see, I can tell you that much._

_All right, so without further ado, let's get this show on the road._

* * *

Chapter 14: Virmire Part 1

Ash, Kaidan and I stare at Kirrahe in disbelief. I'm the first to cross my arms. Fuckin' bastard doesn't want to be nice? Fine. I'll spare no expense on this guy at all.

"At least they sent _someone_," I point out, the frown on my face prominent. "The least we could use is a 'thank you', you ingrateful son of a-"

"A-ha-hall right, then..." says Kaidan a bit quickly. "We have a few more people headed this way, Captain. They had to take down some defenses."

The salarian captain. "But still, only one ship?" he asks. "Why only one ship?"

You should be thankful you got _any_ ships at all, you son of a bitch.

"From what we know, the transmission was unclear, Captain," replies Kaidan. Yeah, yeah, do away with the 'Captain' crap. This is ridiculous. This son of a bitch should be thankful we're here in the first place.

The salarian is quick to shake his head and close his eyes. "Oh, no..." he says.

"What does that mean for us?" asks Ash.

"I'll need more time to come up with a plan," replies the salarian.

And then I hear the approach of an engine in the distance. I look over to the side to see the Mako driving up to the salarians in the camp.

"Well, hopefully you'll have a bit more time, Captain," I say. Yeesh, I wish I didn't have to say that word... "Our commanding officer's just arrived."

As soon as I say this, Shepard and the alien company on board the Normandy gets off, all looking over to us. I feel bad for Tali and Liara; I'll bet they're burning up in their suit/clothes. Black really is a bad color for heat like this...

"Oh..." he says as Shepard approaches. "I apologize. I heard that the Council transmission was unclear."

"That it was," says our commander. "Do you need to come up with a new plan or something?"

"That would be adviseable, yes," says Kirrahe. "I will need your two officers here." He indicates Kaidan and Ash. "The rude one can stay."

Oh, that son of a bitch! "Hey!" I shout, holding my arms out. "What the-?"

"Serviceman, stand down!" commands Shepard.

Oh... Okay... I'll shut up now... But only because you say so! If I had my way, I'd have ripped this motherfucker's head off two seconds ago!

"I apologize for the behavior of my soldier, Captain," says Shepard. "He can be a little jumpy, to say the least."

"If he does not get in the way, it should be all right," replies Kirrahe as he, Shepard, Kaidan, and Ash walk off. I hear the end of their conversation as the other salarians disperse. I see the group head over to a tent where Kirrahe then turns to them.

Right. Now they're going to get a debriefing. I get the general jist of it, though. It's a cloning facility where Saren is breeding a krogan army. And Saren's also cured the genophage. At least, thats what I remember. And that's what I hope. If I see Wrex storming out of there, I'm right.

Right. Time to just stand here and admire the scenery I guess. I walk away from the Normandy and cross my arms as I look around. Yeah, this definitely looks like I could walk into Matheson Hammock in ten steps. This is pretty awesome, I've got to admit. But, of course... there's everything else looming in the horizon.

I wonder what happened to my body back there. Did I die? Did I disappear? Did I go into a coma? I'm sure that it'll be a question that'll be answered soon enough. At least, when I wake up. If I wake up in a coffin, then yes, I died and came back to life. Too bad I can't go to the Uma Thurman school of escaping a casket ten feet underground. No... If I wake up in a hospital bed, I came into a coma. If I wake up back in the practice room, I disappeared. Right, I think I can handle that.

"You know, being rude to a commanding officer is not exactly a good way to get on our good side."

Holy shit! I turn to see a reddish-brown salarian standing right there. Whoah, nelly. I didn't see you there. "Oh," I say. "Well, let me put it this way: I tend to hate it when people don't seem to appreciate even smaller things. It's just how I am. That, and if you're not grateful I tend to get pissed off easily."

"That may be so, but lashing out isn't away to go about it," replies the salarian.

I cross my arms in front of me and shrug. "May be," I say. "Either way, I'm a highly tempramental son of a bitch, so I'm still likely to go thinking about it no matter what happens."

The salarian seems to agree with this and he nods. "However you look at it," he says. "But still, it's probably not best to get on our commanding officer's bad side. It's not good for a salarian to be in your position."

I shake my head, biting my lower lip. "In a few hours, it's likely not going to be an issue anyway," I say. "But still, I see your point. If I offended your commanding officer... well... I didn't really need to lose my temper like that."

The salarian gives me a small nod. "My name is Jarel Brosca," he introduces himself. "I'm on the science team for this mission. Yours?"

"******," I reply. "My good friends call me Art. I'm a musician-turned-serviceman, if you can believe that. A pleasure, Jarel." Jarel. Hm. Well, that'll be a simple name to memorize. Good thing it's simple, since it means that my usual problem with names won't really be as bad.

He nods. "A pleasure," he says. "It's nice to see something other than a salarian and a krogan for once."

I raise my eyebrow. "Krogan?" I ask. Okay, so that definitely confirms the 'krogan army' bit. "What would krogan want with a turian?"

"Saren's breeding an army," replies Jarel. "When I infiltrated the science labs, I found data on a cure for the genophage."

Yep, everything's exactly as it was in the game. Playing along, I jolt and look over to Wrex, who's... storming over to the tent. "Oh dear," I say. "That might not sit well with our krogan friend. At all."

Jarel blinks before his attention turns back to me. "You know about krogan history?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah," I say, turning my attention back to him. "I know a lot more than a human my age really should."

"Well, it doesn't hurt," says Jarel, crossing his arms. "I imagine making nice with a krogan is not easy."

"Probably not," I say. "But I didn't find it so hard. Of course, that's just this guy we're talking about, and he's not as bad as most."

Jarel nods. "There are exceptions to everything," he says. "But I must say; if you are tempramental as you say, you two complement each other well."

I turn to him, my head rooting violently in place as I hear this. Well, that's new... "I thought we complement each other well because we get along," I say.

"Clinical evidence proves otherwise," replies the salarian. "Your behavior seems more like a cross between a krogan and a human than anything else."

I blink. "Well, that's hardly fair," I reply, crossing my arms. "I'm sure you'll meet a lot of other humans more hot-headed than I am. If you know what I mean."

"Humans are all a strange bunch, though," he says. "You're all overly diverse, in a strange kind of way. That's what I like about humans. So unpredictable. I always find myself surprised."

Hm. I don't like where this is going. "You're treating this like a science experiment, aren't you?" I ask.

"Oh, but it's a fascinating one," replies Jarel with a strange kind of joy in his voice. "The best science experiments are always the ones that you can find outside of the lab. What you can see in people."

Hm. Well, when you put it that way... "You know..." I say, rubbing my chin in thought. "You're right. Looking at how others behave is kind of interesting in it's own right."

"Good to see we're in agreement on the issue," say Jarel. "We-"

He doesn't get to say much else before suddenly we hear yelling from Kirrahe's tent. And then we both see Wrex storm away, stalking over by the water as his body betrays something crazy. Oh, shit, something's just hit the fan.

"Yep, he definitely wasn't happy to hear it," I reply, snapping into attention. I see Shepard walk out of the tent a few seconds later as we both behold this.

"I imagine Kirrahe must have referred to the krogan badly again," says Jarel, shaking his head. "I keep telling him to watch his mouth around krogan, but he never gets it."

I blink at this. Shepard walked out of the tent, but... wait, she's not going to Wrex... Wait... She's heading to...

Oh, shit... This is serious. I don't notice that she's right in front of me until she gets my attention. I gulp and look up at her.

"Commander?" I ask, nervously.

"Art," she says. "Wrex isn't too happy about stuff."

I blink. "It's because of the genophage cure, isn't it?" I blurt out. Oh, boy, I don't like where this is heading.

"I explained it, ma'am," says Jarel. "If you were wondering."

The commander glances over to the scientist as she nods. "I see," she says. "That makes my job easier then." She turns back to me. "We're afraid he's going to turn on us. So... we need to talk him out of betraying us. So I'm sending you in to talk to him."

Oh, shit. _I _have to talk to Wrex? What? But... No! No! This isn't like the game at all! Shepard was supposed to go talk to him, not some kid who's only good for writing music!

Besides, I can fuck up at this part! This is insanity! I can't possibly do that! I'd mess up! And...

No. Just no. I'm telling Shepard to do it.

"Well, with all due respect, Commander, aren't _you_ his commanding officer?" I ask. "So therefore, shouldn't _you _be the one to talk to him?"

"Yes, I should," replies the comander. "But as it is, you're the person he trusts more on the Normandy. I think he'll be more likely to listen to what you have to say than what I have to say."

I blink. Well, I can't argue with that, but I still don't think this is a good idea... "But... are you sure?" I ask. "I mean, no offense, Commander, but this could get bad fast."

Shepard looks out. I can see Ash getting into position. Shit... they're already planning on killing him! "If you can't talk him out, we'll have to kill him." replies Shepard after a brief pause. "Please, Art. Do this for him."

Fuck... I really don't have a way out of this, do I? I... I really don't know. I don't know if I can do this. The game had it happen either way, so I know this isn't something I can take lightly... but what makes this worse is that Wrex is my _friend_. I've befriended a krogan. And... And if I can't save his life... Then what kind of friend am I? I...

No. You'll never know unless you try, Art. Okay... I guess I've got no choice... if I don't try, he'll die anyway.

I nod gravely. "Very well," I say. "I'll talk to him." I turn to Jarel with a nod. "A pleasure meeting you, Jarel."

And with this, I look over to the krogan. Okay, just take a deep breath. You can do this, Art. You can do this.

All right. Let's go.

I approach Wrex, a small amount of trepidation in my step as I near the krogan. I see him looking over the small river that flows from the nearby dam. His gaze is determined, like his mind is set. And there's a tension in his arms that I never saw in there before. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ash standing with her pistol at the ready, getting ready to fire.

I can't believe I'm the one who has to talk Wrex out of his betrayal instead of Shepard. This... fortune really couldn't resist trying to fuck with me, could she? As if I'm not doubting myself enough over the nuke, I have to deal with this now. If I fuck this up... No, no, Art, focus, you can do this. You can talk Wrex out of this. The only person I trust more on the Normandy is Tali. And from what he's said in our conversations as of late, he trusts me more than anybody in the Normandy. I helped him get his family armor back personally. I'm just the naive guy, and he's the hardened warrior. I can do this.

I approach him, and I look to the krogan. "Wrex," I say. "I heard about what you're planning on doing for Saren."

Without missing a beat, he speaks. "This isn't right," he says. "If there's a cure for the genophage, it can't be destroyed."

I blink, almost taken off guard by how direct he is. I hesitate briefly as I clench and unclench my fists. Once I start talking, I can't stop. I can't reload a save. I've got one shot to do this, and one shot only. And if I fuck up... he'll die. And I like him too much for that.

Taking a deep breath, I go for it.

"That... that may be so," I say, holding my hands in front of me. "But we both know that the guy holding it is the enemy. Be mad at him, if anything."

He turns to me, a displeased look on his face as he approaches. "Really?" he asks, his voice threatening. "Saren created a cure for my people. You and Shepard want to destroy it." He waves a hand at me. "Help me out here, Art. The lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand. Especially as far as you're concerned, as you told me you hoped we would find a cure. Where do you stand?"

I feel a shiver travel down my spine. Shit, I probably shouldn't have said that, looking back on it now. But I can't take it back. It'll make it harder... Fuck... My heart is racing faster than it ever has in this universe. It's racing away, almost as if it's running a marathon. It's almost as bad as _The Lizard _in Heavy Rain... If this is to be my last effect on the plotline... No, Art, you can do this. And you have to try.

"I... I don't think I should have to explain it, Wrex," I point out nervously.

He approaches, and his face is almost in mine. I can see the black pupils in his crimson eyes, and they are shining with more determination than I've ever seen in him. Oh, shit... He's serious.

"Indulge me," he replies. "I've been fighting by your side since we met on the Citadel. You did more for me than my family ever did. And you... I trust you. I know you're doing this for Shepard, and I'm willing to talk with you, seeing as how I trust you more than her. But if I'm going to keep on fighting with you and Shepard, I have to know I'm doing it for the right reasons."

With this, he pulls his shotgun on me. I stumble back a little bit, almost losing my composure. Fuck... I knew he did that in the game, but... I didn't think facing down a determined krogan would be like that. That barrel is pointed at me. If he fires and Ash doesn't do it on time... I'll be back home, but he'll die right after I do... Shit, this is terrifying...

I stand there, too shocked to reach for my pistol. I can't... I can't do this... I don't think I can convince him not to change sides... And he's gonna die... And it's gonna be all my-

"Why haven't you drawn your weapon?" he asks, determinedly.

_Why haven't you drawn your weapon?_ Something about that gets me. Something...

That's it! I can do this! I've got a way to do this!

I look behind me, and take my pistol. I give it a brief glance before I drop it onto the ground. Soon after, I do the same thing to my assault rifle and my shotgun, the weapons landing on the white sand below. I look at him with a slightly more determined glance.

"I won't," I say simply, courage beginning to flow through my veins.

Wrex's grip on his shotgun falters, and he gives me a once-over. I see Ash do the same thing out of the corner of my eye. "You also said you would help stop Saren when you first boarded the Normandy," he says.

"I never said which..." Ah, damn it, there goes my horrible public speaking skills. "I didn't say... how far I would be willing to go." Okay, I think I've got my wording. "Frankly, I draw the line at raising my gun at someone I consider to be my friend."

Yeah. A friend. I would stand in front of a friend's shotgun to keep him from dying. In my past life, I would have laughed at myself for even considering doing that. But this is different. This is Urdnot Wrex, future leader of the Krogan. I know he could potentially get killed here. And frankly, I won't let that happen. Consider it my last contribution to the _Mass Effect _universe before I let myself die. Consider it a final act of friendship for Wrex.

"I see," he says, his grip faltering slightly. "That's a pretty ballsy move there, Art. I'll ask again: Why should I continue to trust you?"

Well, at least I got him to listen to me. "You... You have no guarantee that the krogan that are working with Saren are your people," I say. "Saren... He's using those krogan as a tool. They're slaves for him. I wouldn't want my people to be cured if it meant that they would lose their free will."

He stands there, staring me down with a pensive look on his face.

"Wrex..." I continue, my voice cracking softly. "Do you want that?"

He stands there, and I swear my eyes are alight with tears that want to dance out. Oh, please, work. Please, please, please, work...

The tension in the air is thick when he finally speaks. "No," he says simply. "We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us. I don't think Saren will be as generous."

With this, he stands up, fully erect as he puts away his shotgun. "All right, Art," he says. "You've made your point. I can't say I like this, but I trust you enough to listen to what you have to say. When we find Saren, you tell Shepard that I want his head."

Wait, did I just... No way... I didn't... There's no way I... Did I... Holy shit...

Fuck, I actually did it! Yes! I managed to talk him out of his fucking face heel turn! Fuck yes!

Relief washes over me as this dawns on me. Yes! I didn't fuck up with my one chance to save him! Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!

"All right," I say, nodding as I bend down to pick up my pistol.

He stands there, and he regards me. I turn to him as I holster my pistol and move to my assault rifle and my shotgun. "Oh, and Wrex?" I say.

"Yes?" he asks, crossing his arms.

I move my jaw. I can't... I can't put how relieved I am that I was able to save his life into words. I can't. So I'll say something else. Maybe allude to the whole nuke thing. Take this time to say goodbye to Wrex.

"If something happens... And I get left on this base when it gets destroyed..." I hesitate, a lump forming in my throat. Shit, I knew saying goodbye would be hard, but... Damn, I've really become attached to them. I... Am I making the right choice here?

I swallow the lump in my throat and continue. "I want to let you know that it's been an honor working beside you," I finish. "It has."

Wrex gives me a soft krogan smile. Wait, since when did krogan smile outside of battle? What the fuck? "I don't think it'll come to that," he says. "But... I'll indulge you anyways. You've been the best friend I've made in hundreds of years. And if something happens, I'll have a tough time trying to forget you. Or wanting to."

I smile. I've said goodbye to Ash, Garrus, Liara, Shepard, Kaidan, and Wrex. Now I just have to wish Tali farewell and all will be good.

"Oh, and by the way," he says, a little louder this time so that the entire camp can hear it. "When we get back to the Normandy, we're playing the game that you always play."

Okay that-

Wait...

"Oh, Jesus Christ on a fucking pikestaff!"

Shepard immediately bursts out laughing a short distance away, and shortly after I snort as Wrex begins laughing his head off. I don't really mind the multitudes of eyes boring holes into my body as we just laugh.

Besides, I have reason to be happy. Wrex is still alive. And I managed to save him. That feeling is awesome.

Yeah, I can definitely leave the _Mass Effect _universe knowing that in my final minutes here I was able to step up to the plate and save Urdnot Wrex, krogan, from death.

Life is definitely good.

* * *

After I got that hurdle with Wrex over with, I thought I'd say my goodbyes to Tali. But, of course, fate has other plans for me. Ash walked up to me and told me that Kirrahe asked for my presence at his makeshift tent, where he had come up with a plan. Oh, well this is new. He actually wants to be nice.

So I went with Ash to make sure he wouldn't fall back on his word. And, lo and behold, he looks at me differently. Less critically. Yay, I think I'm getting along! Fun times abound for all!

The salarian regards me first. "To you, Serviceman… *********, was it?" he asks. "I thought I'd say that first. I didn't think anyone could talk the krogan down. I would have preferred a less confrontational approach, but it worked nonetheless. Thank you. Him turning on us could have been a major problem."

I nod. "With all due respect, captain, the krogan is my friend," I say. "I'm not about to let him die, and if he does I think he'd rather die in battle like a proud krogan instead of being shot down before entering said battle." Or that I knew he was in danger, but hush, I'm making a point.

"Very well, then," he says. "I apologize for my rude behavior earlier." With this, he turns to Shepard and the rest of us. "I have a plan," he says. "We don't have much, but with what we have I think it will work."

Okay, I already know the plan, so I can fast forward through this in my mind. Okay, so let's see if I have the details down. You're planning on nuking the place with a modified engine from your ship. However, to do so, you need to take down the defense towers so the Normandy can get to the one spot that the base can be completely destroyed from. So you're going to lead a strike team out to distract the geth while Shepard takes out the defense towers (and possibly saves some salarians and kills a bunch of krogan). After a conversation with Sovereign the Reaper, you're then going to disable the guns and bring in the nuke. All right, do I have you right Kirrahe?

"So, let me see if I have this right," says Shepard. "We need to get a nuke to a very specific spot of the base by taking out its defense towers so that Joker can fly in with a modified nuke from your ship. And meanwhile, your team is going to distract the geth?"

"Yes," says Kirrahe. "We will then rendezvous at a predetermined point, and from there we shall exit the base."

That's a bingo!

I nod as the others seem to nod in agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me," says Ash.

"Hopefully, that will be all," says Kaidan.

And here, Kirrahe shakes his head. "Unfortunately, this plan requires that I take one of your soldiers, Commander," replies the salarian. "Preferably one of your human soldiers."

All right, so road block one is set for Shepard. Ash and Kaidan look to each other, and I can already tell that something is going to go down. As for me, well… if I can get myself on Kirrahe's team, then that will be 50 percent of the way to dying…

"What?" asks Ash. "Why do you want one of us?"

"Shepard is our commander," says Kaidan. "We take orders from her."

"We'll have to set aside our differences for now," says Shepard. "With all due respect, his plan seems like a good way to destroy it."

"Why is it that when someone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'?" asks Ash.

I fight down the urge to snort as Kirrahe looks to Ash and Kaidan. "Your commanding officer is right," he says. "If I don't have one of you on my strike team, the geth may be able to overwhelm us."

Well… I guess I should speak up. "Frankly, I don't think we've got a choice," I say. "This base needs to go down at the end of the day. So whatever happens, will happen. And we should just roll with it. First step; agreeing with the guy's plan. It's as good a plan as we can get with what we have, so I say just go for it."

All eyes turn to me. Oh, boy… I'm not going to like where this is going, am I?

Kirrahe blinks before smiling broadly.

"I think we have an obvious choice for the soldier I should bring with me," says the salarian.

"Indeed," adds Shepard, looking to me. "Serviceman, you will be going with Kirrahe's team to distract the geth. I expect you to be on your best behavior, and to go above and beyond the call of duty with them. Understood?"

Oh… Well… I actually do like where that was going. That was simpler than I thought it would be. Wow… I'm already one step closer to death at Virmire. I just hope she doesn't go the completely paragon route and try to rescue me and the salarian strike teams. But still, at least I have a chance of dying now.

All right. I can do this.

"Yes, Commander," I say, nodding and standing erect.

Oh… wait, don't I have to take command of something?

Oh… Oh shit! I don't have leadership experience! What do I do now? No… This isn't…

No… I have to give it my all. They'll be counting on me. Lead by example, I guess. And when I lead by example, I should give it my all. Just do what instinct tells…

…

See, _this_ is why I will never pursue a career in leadership! Bad things happen when I lead!

"Very well then," says Kirrahe. "We will be leaving in fifteen minutes. We will get the bomb to your ship during this time. While that is going on, the serviceman may use that time to do whatever he pleases, so long as it does not hamper our plan. I shall expect him with me when we commence our plan."

Oh, and we get time to say goodbye. Sweetness! I'm going to need it; I need to say goodbye to Tali!

"Understood, Captain," I reply.

And with this, they call the meeting to a close. Okay, the meeting's closed.

Now it's time to find Tali and say goodbye to her. She'll need it, the poor thing. Especially once I die. That will really hit her hard, I'm sure. What with being good friends and having saved her life when we first met and all. But I'm going to miss her too. Oh… I just wish I had something I could give her so that she could remember me. Well, something that won't give my identity away, but still.

Oh, well… I'll just see what she has to say, tell her that she's my best friend in the Mass Effect universe, and call it a day.

* * *

When I see Tali next, she's standing by the water, thinking. As I approach, she turns, and I feel like I can hear the smallest gasp coming from her.

"Oh, Art," she says. "I heard about… well… Kirrahe. About how you'll have to go with him when we start this plan."

I nod to confirm this. "You have that right," I say. "I imagine it's going to be quite an affair."

"I would be careful around the geth," she says, looking over to where the Normandy stands. "They're probably very dangerous in close spaces like these. Especially if you get hit by air units."

Oh, yeah. Kirrahe can die from those if Shepard doesn't help. But she's paragon, so she'll likely help us out with that. "I'll keep that in mind," I say. "What else should I be wary of?"

The quarian shrugs. "At this point, I think it'll be the same thing we've always encountered," she replies.

"Right," I say. "Thanks for the tips."

The quarian nods as she looks out over the water. "You know," she says. "I worry about you sometimes. I just… can't help it I guess. I can't help but feel something terrible might happen to you on these missions."

Hoo, boy. Yeah, this was a good call. "Well, Tali, you can't always guarantee my safety," I say. "I imagine this time will be worse…"

Tali nods. "That it can be," she says. "Do you think you'll… die here?"

Well… "Maybe, maybe not," I say. "We don't know what's going to be in the future, you know. Anything can happen." Here more than anywhere else, really. "So when we get going… we'll just have to let happen what will."

She nods at this. Wait… she's uncertain. "I don't know," she says. "I just wish there was something I could do to help you… You've been such a great friend these past few weeks that… Well… And I'm afraid of what could happen if you… well… you know…"

Hm… Well, she's certainly confused on something. Well, I guess we could do something about that if we really want.

"Tali, would you happen to know what a hug is?" I ask.

At this, the quarian stands erect, and I swear she's giving me a confused look behind her face mask. "No… No I don't," she says. "What is a hug?"

Aw, so innocent. It's really very cute. Too bad she's going to lose that in a couple of years.

"Well, Tali…" I say, approaching her. "It's a human symbol of trust between two people."

"Does it… what exactly does this mean in terms of how much a person trusts someone?" asks the quarian.

I step closer with a nod. "It means whatever you want it to mean," I say. "It's just… a sign. That you care. And the best part is, you don't have to take off that suit. If that's what you're thinking…"

Tali seems to step closer at this. "Then…" she says. "How do you do a hug?"

Oh, dear, this is something straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel. Complete with emotionally manipulative sap. But for some reason, I just can't help it. I've really come to like Tali as a person. A lot, I should say. I don't think I'm in love with her, but she sort of reminds me of that one special person that we're always looking for in our lives… Oh, I dunno. She's just my best friend here. The person I feel most comfortable around.

I step forward and bring Tali into my arms. She's a little hesitant, but as I bring them around her I whisper into where I imagine her ear would be underneath the suit.

"Like this," I say.

She's silent for a few seconds as I let my head stand clear of her shoulders. And then, slowly, her own arms come around me. As soon as her fingers are on my back, I can feel them twitching. Wow… I'm actually hugging a video game character. I really don't have anything to say about that. Other than a select few words starting with "awesome" and ending with "sensational".

We hold this for a few seconds before Tali pulls away, looking over at me.

"You know…" she says. "It's awfully similar to a quarian gesture that means the same thing."

I raise my eyebrows. Huh, this is new. "Really?" I ask. Well… it explains her body language during that one scene on the _Alarei_ in the sequel. Poor girl… She'll have a lot to deal with during part two…

"Yes," she says. "It's… not our most intimate gesture, though."

Oh. Yes, that is true… "I'll admit a hug is not one of our most intimate gestures, either…" I say. "But it still says a lot about what one person thinks about another."

The quarian nods. "I see… Art…" she hesitates on her next words. "Be careful out there…"

I blink… Shit, I'm getting all sentimental and mushy and all this stuff… Okay, just pull yourself together. "I'll try," I say. "But… if I don't make it out… I want you to know that it was a huge pleasure to truly get to know you."

Okay, yeah, the whole sap thing isn't working out all that well. Jeez, Art, you need to reign it in! You need to reign it in!

She nods, and… is she embarrassed or something? "Same here, Art…" she says. "I… Just… Come out alive. Please."

I nod to her. Wow… Shit… I didn't think I'd get this torn up about saying goodbye to a video game character, of all things… Wow, being in this place really has changed me. And I'll never be quite the same man again after this. Damn…

But… Oh, gain one, only to lose the other… Oh, well. I'm already heading out with Kirrahe. I might as well go with it for the rest of the time I'm here. Although now I'm doubting myself more than ever… Is this really the best choice? No, it has to be; it's cruel to let my family go about with no closure on what happened to me. At least here they'll all think I'm dead. I don't even know what happened to myself back there. So now… yes, this is probably for the best.

All right. Now it's time to seek out Kirrahe so we can head out and do stuff.

* * *

And now, I get to see Kirrahe's speech. I see the rest of the crew of the Normandy standing around as they give a speech. Really, I don't hear the speech. I'm not listening, anyhow.

It's just… I'm going to die soon… And that thought is really beginning to get to me. Well… not die… but just head to my death here. It's so surreal… thinking about my death in this way, anyhow. I'll die to them, only to come back to others. And there's no turning back.

I glance to the rest of the crew. This could be the last time I see any of these people in a real, non-pixellated form. There are some things I'll never forget about the crew of the Normandy. The way an asari's skin looks up close in real life. The contour of a krogan's scars. The exact details of a turian fringe.

All those will get lost when I return back home… I'll miss this place, that's for damn sure…

As I get a last look at the crew of the Normandy, I see Kirrahe turn to me out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you ready, Serviceman?" he asks.

I regard him for a second before grabbing my assault rifle from my back.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I say. I follow the captain as we head into the base, and we prepare the strike team. I catch sight of Jarel grabbing his weapon. I nod to him, and we move out.

All right. No turning back now. Once I go with Kirrahe, my fate is sealed. And whether it be for better or for worse, I'll see this until the bitter, bitter end.


	16. Chapter 15

_A/N: Okay__. Last time, Wrex was alive and Tali was said goobye to. Now, is the big chapter. Awfully short for being a pivotal plot point of Mass Vexations, but hey. You know all that build-up? Well... I'm going to tease you with it for now._

_A lot's happened between the time I posted the last MV chapter and today. I turned 20 years old on Wednesday, this story hit it's 50th review (a record as far as I'm concerned, as I only have one other story that managed to get 50 reviews by the time it reached chapter 15), I learned how to read Baroque choreography notation, I've been getting used to proper Baroque performance practice, and I've gotten plenty of new ideas for this fic. Will we see them here? Probably not. Will we see it elsewhere?_

_Well... read to the end of today's chapter and find out._

_Yes, I'm sadistic. Why do you think I make you guys lose the game so often? *winks*_

_Okay, enough chatter. I bring you the next chapter of the MV saga._

* * *

Chapter 15: Virmire Part 2

Okay, so we leave the camp. We enter, the salarians around me doing some last minute ammo checks as Kirrahe steps to the front of the pack. I fall into step behind him as the other salarians quickly come over behind him. I look back to them. Wow, there are a lot of us here. But it likely won't be enough against the mountain of geth waiting inside. It's… disheartening, really…

But we have to do this. I have to do this. It's for everybody's good.

I look over to the skies as Kirrahe does a quick check. Jarel walks over to me and nods.

"We'll be fine, Art," he says. "Don't worry."

I nod as he leaves. It's not any one of you guys I'm worried about…

No, Art, you have to stay in this until the very end. You can do it. It's all up to you, m'kay?

I look around, and then we wander over by an area where there is cover. I just hope Shepard can help us out. It's all up to her whether Kirrahe makes it out alive or not. I just hope she saves Ash over me.

Right. I ready my assault rifle as we round the corner. Already, I see geth units there, and they're patrolling it seems. I look over to Kirrahe, gesturing to them. The captain nods, and the salarians crawl up against the walls. I notice that there are some lining up against the opposing wall.

"On my mark," says the captain.

All right. Let's hope this goes smoothly, because I really hope it does. If it doesn't… I don't know what I'll do. And that is kind of scary.

The captain looks to all of us, and the rest of the forces nod in reply. I do so hesitantly, knowing the full cost of what could happen.

With this, Kirrahe gave a hand gesture.

And all of a sudden, a hail of gunfire rained down on the patrolling geth on the opposite wall. Right. That hand gesture? Fire at will. All right, got it. I turn out of cover and see one last geth unit. I fire my rifle at it, and it goes down without too much ceremony. We see the hallway clear of geth, and Kirrahe nods to us.

"Let's move!" he says.

And with this, we flood into the corridor, holding our weapons up. I come up just behind Kirrahe, Jarel being somewhere behind me. We advance in the hall well enough, and then we see the geth come in.

Right. Cover, cover… Oh, that crate! I fall back behind it just as Kirrahe gives another hand signal to the salarians.

I peer up to see quite a few geth units there. I see a rocket launcher wielder among them. Oh, shit, I forgot there were the rocket launcher geth! Take it out first. I line up my assault rifle at the geth as it's readying it's launcher. Wait for it…

He pulls the trigger. Not a second too soon, I open fire on the rocket. And sure enough, after a few bullets impact against it, the thing blows up barely a few feet away. It manages to take out quite a large stock of geth as the rocket launcher one is seen staggering back. I quickly duck behind cover just as a few bullets whiz over me. I look up to see that there's a large enough hole to give the others ample time to reload.

All right! Looks like shooting the bombs really does work in real life! Thanks very much for the tip, Starfox! Now I have to figure out how to do a barrel roll with my body and all will be fun…

Right, back to the battle.

I peer over my cover to see more geth coming in. Right, time to take these out. I shoot at them with my assault rifle, taking a few down as I feel my shields deplete.

Fortunately, my fellow salarian soldiers are right behind me as I pop out the ammunition and reload. I hear the rounds whiz over my head as I do so. I peer back out and see that there are more fallen geth.

And I see another one over there. I look over to it and fire my assault rifle as it goes down. I have enough ammo left in this clip to take down another one. So I look to the side and see another geth there. I look at it and gun it down. The other salarians take care of the rest.

At the end, I reload as Kirrahe comes forward.

"Let's move!" he shouts.

And then we move down the corridor, our weapons at the ready. We come down to an area, and then I see the wall that is guarding the base. I look over to see more geth, with another rocket launcher wielder.

Right. When Kirrahe gives the signal, I come out of the cover I've picked and shoot at the rocket launcher thing first. It goes down quickly. Okay, good, that's a preserved rocket launcher. We can use that against the aerial units later. If I can get to it, that is. As it is now, there are too many geth in there to get it now.

So I just go behind cover and reload quickly. When I peer out, however, I see a geth rushing straight for us. Oh, shit!

Without thinking, I bring the butt of my rifle up, the butt connecting with the geth's facelight. It falls to the ground on its back, where I quickly turn and fire some holes into its synthetic head. Okay, it's dead, it's dead.

I turn back and look out of cover as I see another rocket launcher geth come in. Oh, shit! I fire at it, but thankfully another one of the salarians is able to come out of cover to shoot at it. This is enough to take it down. Eh, I have to reload anyways.

I duck back behind cover and reload, hearing gunfire all around me. Good think I'm going home soon. If there was one thing about this place I could never get used to, it's the sound of gunfire. Honestly, gunfire scares the shit out of me. No thanks to my phobia of loud, sudden noises. But… I've gotten used to it. There's a kind of strangeness about how quickly a guy can get used to the same loud sudden noise played back seventy times. Well, except when your name is Iannis Xenakis; in which case, I can only take so much of the loud, dissonant, almost always relentless chords that you're infamous for before I begin to get bothered.

I peer out of cover as I see more geth come out. None of them has gone for the rocket launcher yet. Good. The geth are almost out. I fire my rifle at one that is rushing towards us before we pause.

I look to Kirrahe and then to the rocket launcher. "I think we should get that rocket launcher," I say. "We could use it against some of these things."

The captain nods. "Good call," he says. "Men, let's move! And take the rocket launcher with us!

And we advance slowly. I see Jarel grab the rocket launcher before bringing his weapon in front of him, lugging the huge thing with him. We come to another area, where I manage to get behind cover. I duck down, and then when the geth come I shoot at them. It's the same kind of thing over again, really.

Wait… why am I getting flashbacks to _Time Crisis_? This is reminding me a lot of it… Well, wait… Yes, it makes perfect sense. We're firing at geth, clearing a room, and moving on after a command. Yeah… this is exactly why I'm getting that flashback.

All we need is a foot pedal and the setup will be complete.

We advance forward, heading down hallway after hallway in a similar manner. Finally, we come to an area after entering the base that is mostly outside.

* * *

Several small gunfights and a few stray geth later, and we come to an open area. It's large enough for aerial units to fire upon. Shit… I better warn Kirrahe.

I turn to the Captain as I see him advance. I look back to Jarel, who is holding on to the rocket launcher as we advance. I nod to Jarel. He nods back, and advances around as he takes cover. Kirrahe notices this, and nods after quickly checking the sky above us.

"Perfect place for an aerial geth to ambush us," I murmur. "We better find cover and work our way across slowly."

The captain nods. "A wise choice," he says. "You make a better leader than would be proper for a musician," he adds.

I glance at him. While that does tick me off a bit, it _is_ true. Best not to comment on it, then. I shrug, switching out my assault rifle for my pistol. Kirrahe makes a hand gesture to the other salarian soldiers, and we move out.

I take the time to count the salarian heads as we go around. Huh… we've only got one casualty. Thank god it's not the medic. If it was, we'd be screwed. Big time. And I wouldn't want Kirrahe to end up dying the way Tom Hanks' character in _Saving Private Ryan_ did. Because that would be sad. And it'll happen if Shepard didn't take out the aerial units.

We slink along cover, keeping one set of eyes skyward and another ahead of us. Hm… The geth have gone strangely silent as of late.

"They're going to ambush us," I say, noticing Kirrahe stalking behind me. "I just know it."

"How?" asks Kirrahe.

"It's always like this in vids," I say, glancing around.

The captain blinks. "But this is not a vid," he says. "This is real life."

Oh, please. "Trust me, if we were to switch bodies and turn back time to three months ago, I think you'd agree with me," I say, holding my pistol back up as I hear the whirr of something. "I think I hear the aerial units coming."

Kirrahe nods and then turns to his comm unit. "All units, stay behind cover, no matter what," he commands.

I see silent approval from everybody else. We slowly slink along, and then before long, we hear a ton of sounds. These sounds turn to marching, and then we see a huge amount of geth in the distance. I turn and see that the geth are coming up behind us as well, and an aerial unit is hovering over us.

I quickly turn to Kirrahe and give him the quirkiest I-told-you-so expression I can make. Almost immediately, we hear the sounds of gunfire.

Fortunately, we're all already behind cover, so it's only a matter of making sure stuff goes—

Wait, a boom? I turn my head and… Oh, shit, the wall's falling.

"Get down!" I shout, more out of instinct than anything. I quickly duck down, and then a monumental noise comes up around me. Wow… falling rubble sounds more grating than it does in the movies.

I peer up, and I see a plume rise from the far end as what I assume to be Jarel fires a rocket at the aerial unit. It blows up unceremoniously, the rubble falling to the ground. A piece of it bounces off barely three inches away as I look overhead. I don't see any more aerial units.

All right, Shepard helped us out! All right, now to see to—

Holy shit!

"Captain!"

I turn to the rubble. Shit… It completely crushed Kirrahe! His hand is sticking out of there… Oh, fuck, we're without a commander now! Jesus Christ on a pikestaff… He's dead! Even with Shepard's help! Is this… Is this because I showed up here…?

Wait… it falls on me to lead these guys now, doesn't it? Oh… oh shit… No…

"No no no no no…" I mutter.

Oh, no… I'm going to have to lead these people. Worse yet, I have no leadership experience. Fuck… I'm going to get everybody in this strike team killed. And then I'm going to fuck up the mission so that the bomb doesn't go off in the first place. Shit… I can't believe…

No… There's no time to think! I've got to act. I turn to the other salarians by me as they continue firing, oblivious to the passing of their captain. I look across the open area and see the other salarians fighting just as hard as their fellow salarians over on this side. Okay… no casualties yet. I tune in my comm channel as I look around.

"Serviceman ********* to all units!" I say. Okay, gotta keep this professional. It's nothing personal, Sonny. It's strictly business. "Kirrahe is down and out, I repeat, Kirrahe is down and out! Stay where you are until every one of these geth suckers is scrap metal!"

I hope Shepard heard that…

I don't get any recognition as they continue firing. Okay, I think they got it… Or do they? I dunno, and I don't have time to think about it. I've gotta act.

I look behind the bit of rubble to see geth coming towards us.

All right, fuckers. Let's see how you like this!

I grab my assault rifle from behind as I peek out of cover very quickly. I fire my pistol into the geth, taking down a couple by the time my clip expires. I unload my pistol and quickly bring it under my arm as I aim at the oncoming geth with my assault rifle. I grab a spare unit of handgun ammo before I let loose with my assault rifle, taking down another two geth as they come along.

Okay, time to play the part of badass, and…

I jam the handgun ammo back in as a couple of salarians rush over to my side to help me fend the geth off over there. I hear another rocket explode somewhere, but I don't hear the rubble fall over the gunfire. Okay, good, that was us firing that thing. I jam the ammo into its respective slot and come out, taking out a few geth.

We're surrounded on all sides, but somehow, through some miracle we manage to make it out. I keep on firing at geth the entire rest of the time, and their numbers dwindle rather quickly. The other salarians are able to come and help me out when they take care of the geth in front of them. And so I keep on firing, and eventually, it's such that we don't see any more geth.

I look to the other salarians, seeing a whole bunch of eyes looking at me.

"What do we do, Serviceman?" asks one of the privates nearest me.

Shit, it does fall on me to lead them… Oh, dear…

Well, I've gotta give it my best. Right. I activate my comm unit, looking out.

"Serviceman ********* to the guys at the other side of the plaza, respond!" I say.

"Jarel Brosca, sir," I hear him say. "We don't have any casualties. Seems our Captain was the only one to not make it out alive. What do we do?"

I look around, first to where we came from, and then ahead of us. Well… since we followed Shepard in the game… Yeah, knowing what's ahead of us would be nice.

"Scout the coming area," I say. "If they're setting up another ambush, we should find a way to go around it. Beat them at their own game."

"Got it, sir." A random salarian seems to come out, and then I see a drone. "Sending out scouting drone now!"

Okay, that's all fine and good, but shouldn't we be moving? Nah, let them. I gesture to the other salarians, and we get back behind cover. The units on the other side get the message, and they all fall back behind it as we wait for the scouting drone to make some rounds. After a few minutes, I hear something from the other camp.

"Scouting drone has returned," says the same random salarian over the comm unit. "It detects a three way path. Two of the pathways go straight over a geth ambush. There are geth all over the lower levels, but none in the higher levels."

Okay… Think, think, think, think, think… I'm just a little black raincloud, hovering over the honey tree, I'm just a little black raincloud, pay no attention to me… Everyone knows that a raincloud never eats honey, no not a nip, I'm just floating… Okay, why the hell am I thinking of a Disney movie when I'm supposed to be thinking strategy? Screw that!

Okay… Oh! I know!

"All right," I say. "We'll split up into three strike teams."

I turn to one of the salarian units and point at him. "You," I say. "Name a random salarian city."

He blinks. "Sir, what does this-?"

"Just do as I say!" I command.

"Uh… Aeghor," he replies nervously.

Okay, that was one of the cities Kirrahe would have mentioned if he were still alive. "All right," I say, turning to another private and pointing at him. "Name another city."

"Mannovai, sir," he replies, quickly.

Okay, another city. "All right," I say, turning to yet another salarian. "Name another city."

"Orzammar, sir," replies the salarian.

"Okay, good, now—" Whoah! Wait a minute…! "Wait, there's a salarian city called Orzammar?"

"Yes, sir," he says. "It's an underground city, if you can believe it, sir… Why do you ask?"

I shake my head. And here I thought that one mention of the Grey Wardens in that one vid Garrus showed us would be the last I hear of _Dragon Age_ in the _Mass Effect _universe. "Reminds me of something I read about in human fantasy fiction," I reply before turning to the other strike team. "All right, here's what we're going to do.

"We're going to split into three groups. We'll reconvene before this hallway that was mentioned and figure stuff out with who goes where. Teams Aeghor and Orzammar will take to the two higher areas, and team Mannovai will take to the ground. Aeghor and Orzammar will take the preemptive strike against these geth. As soon as we clear the hallway of most of the geth, Mannovai will work its way into the hallway and take out the rest of the stragglers on our signal. I'll take control of team Aeghor. Commander? I want you to take control of team Mannovai."

I turn to the other side. Yeah, the salarians have their own commander. "Yes sir," he says.

I nod at this. "All right," I say. "Jarel Brosca, you'll lead team Orzammar."

If Jarel is unprepared for this, he doesn't show it. Salarians and their hyper-professionalism… At least in this case we're benefitting from it. "Yes, Serviceman," he says.

"All right," I say. "We reconvene before the hallway where this is true. Get into any group at all, and let's get moving."

With this, we advance towards the hallway that the scouting drone saw, and we reload our guns.

* * *

And after we reconvene, Aeghor and Orzammar teams head up on the higher area, with Mannovai staying behind. We can see each other from there, and so we advance. We check each other's position every so often as we advance along.

And then, we see the geth setting up the ambush point. There are at least a hundred of them down there, and all of them are planning without seeming to notice us. I see a bunch of krogan down there too… Hm… That will be a bit harder. But hey, what can we do? Okay, this all sounds fine and good.

I look over to Orzammar team as they slowly and stealthily get into position. All right, we're in good hands here. I nod to them, and we prepare our weapons.

The geth don't notice us until we fire right away. This manages to get rid of a geth rocket unit on one side and plenty of geth units elsewhere else. We fire down, and more geth fall.

I myself? I'm just using my assault rifle as we see fit. I fire down with the rest of them, keeping an eye on the other units.

Okay, suppressing fire goes well. And in the chaos that ensues, the krogan have just helped us with eliminating all the geth. They're so confused they don't even think to look up. That dwindles their numbers even more significantly as more geth come flooding in. I then see some of them enter some holes in the side.

Oh, dear… This might go badly.

"Aeghor and Orzammar teams, watch out!" I say, sheathing my assault rifle and grabbing my shotgun. "We've got company heading straight for us!"

We turn, and suddenly we see about three krogan rush at us. Okay… This is a little worrying. Krogan are brutish. Take that against fragile salarians and we have a problem… Unless…

Well, there is one way I can distract them, but it's probably going to be extremely painful… Well, they only look armed with a shotgun, so I suppose it's worth it.

"Melee these krogan over the head!" I shout.

Two of the salarians pause in getting their weapons ready as they look at me with disbelieving looks on their faces. "Are you serious, Serviceman?" they ask at exactly the same time.

"Yes!" I shout, turning to see the krogan already rushing towards us. "Now shut up and do as you're told!"

They both stand at attention right as the krogan come for us. And then, I unleash a cry as I rush forward. The two of them seem to follow hesitantly shortly afterwards as the others fire on the group below. I don't pay attention to the other two now. I only rush at the krogan, and let out a yell. As he cocks his shotgun, I sprint at him, closing my eyes… Okay, brace for impact…

And with a satisfying crack, I feel my skull connect with that of the other krogan.

Okay, ow. That hurt. That really fucking hurt. O-ho-how… Oh, boy, that was an extraordinarily bad idea. Ow… I'm going to be feeling that for a few days. Ow… Yeah, that was a bad idea… Don't let it distract you… Ow…

But it does its job, as it stuns the krogan I headbutted. I hear gunshots beside me as the other two krogan take hits to their faces. All right.

I cock my shotgun and fire at the krogan in front of me. The shot connects with his face, and the krogan falls back as orange blood billows all around him. Not wanting to wait, I rush over to the fallen krogan as he looks up. I then cock my shotgun again and shoot him there at least three more times. There's no kill like overkill, after all. My adventures with the fly during composition seminar can attest to that.

After I shoot him again, I turn my attention back down to find that there is another krogan. This time, though, we're ready for it. I fire at it with my shotgun as the salarians around me fire at this krogan. His shields get depleted. All right, here—

Ow! I get sent flying back, a shotgun round having been fired at me. Shit… Okay… Check shields…

Okay, that took out all of my shields. But I'm not dead or anything yet. Good, because then these salarians would fail greatly. I quickly sit up and fire my shotgun again at the krogan. This time, it goes down, and a few more shots from the other salarians take care of it.

And the sounds of gunfire seem to die down as I suddenly hear a bunch of war cries. Right, looks like Orzammar gave the signal to Mannovai. And chaos goes all around us as we take care of all the remaining geth and krogan units. All right, we've got it all under control. And soon enough…

Yes, there are no more geth and krogan remaining. I look back to team Aeghor to find that we haven't suffered a single casualty. There's a severe injury from one of the salarians that dealt with the krogan, but our medic is handling that as best he can, and he doesn't look mortally injured. I nod and bring up my comm unit.

"Mannovai, Orzammar, status report!" I say.

"It's Jarel," says the head of Orzammar first. "We're fine. A few geth rushed us and we have a few injuries, but so far we have no casualties."

"Mannovai team here," says the other commander. "We're all in one piece here."

I nod. "All right," I say. "We'll reconvene soon. Sit tight, and keep that seeker drone out to spot stuff. Let's move!"

All right, I don't suck at leading! Well, as much as I thought I would anyway. Right… Okay, we've got a lot more to do until Shepard can get that bomb set up. I'm going to wait on that call.

For now, though. We've got geth to distract, and stuff to do. So I'm going about attending to my business as best I can. And that means planning more, and making sure the salarians don't die on my watch. Because if I can lead these salarians out alive, I can do anything when I get home.

At any rate, I can live with the knowledge that I've led a strike force in combat without ever having to leave my couch. A real one.

So I reconvene with the other two strike teams and plan out our next course of action.

* * *

So we went around taking down geth for several more minutes. By this time, we've picked up two casualties. I'm really starting to worry; the geth keep coming in droves and we have less than thirty salarians to fend them all off. All my plans have worked miraculously, but I'm very worried that we'll see casualties very, very soon. And that will not be a good thing.

As we're going around taking down geth (wow, did Shepard take this long to get stuff done in the game… I don't remember…), I suddenly get something ringing in my comm unit.

"Shepard to ground team, respond!" she shouts.

Okay, I think that may be it. "Serviceman ********* to Shepard," I reply over the comm. "We've lost Kirrahe and a few others, but otherwise we're doing fine. Feel free to put some ándale into getting those defense towers down, though!"

"No need," says Shepard over the comm. "They're already down. I just radioed Joker, and he's heading to the location Kirrahe pinpointed. Take your strike team and head to the rendezvous point."

Okay… Heading to the rendezvous point is when we'll run into a couple of problems. Shit… Okay, now I have to engineer my own death.

"Roger, Commander," I say, turning to the rest of the strike team as they bury bullets into a rather large bunch of geth.

Okay, so we'll head to the rendezvous point… Where are we? Hm… I swear that's the AA tower in the distance. It's where we'll get swarmed by the geth… Okay…

"Serviceman ********* to strike teams Aeghor, Mannovai, and Orzammar!" Seriously, I can't believe I'm using the name of a dwarven city to refer to an alien strike team. "Shepard's just taken down the defense towers. Head to the rendezvous point!"

The others don't change their expression. "And maintain cover at all times!" I add as a footnote. It'll slow us down, but getting slowed down is currently the name of the game. If we move to fast, we might outrun the geth and get to the rendezvous point before long…

So we stay put for a bit before advancing along. We're careful as we advance, keeping ourselves behind cover at every viable opportunity to do so. Wow… there are a lot of geth coming from that one side… It seems like fate is giving me some kind of opportunity. Or something. Either way, I don't like this.

Okay, resist the urge to just forge ahead. Your life back home depends on it…

I shoot at some more geth. This is getting chaotic fast. It's definitely a far cry from battle scenes I've seen in video games. Wow… Now I know what the siege on Denerim must have looked like up close. They say war is glorious. _All Quiet on the Western Front_ seems to have it more correct. The bodies of the dead enemies are… disturbing. Sure, they're synthetic, but that just seems to make it worse for me. Frayed wires from gunshots somehow disturb me more than the sight of dismembered legs and stuff. I guess possibly because that could have happened to me before it happened to these geth units. Wow… I don't know. This is why I'll never be a soldier after this. Ever. Just seeing death all around is beginning to get disturbing.

Shooting at some more geth, I fall back behind my cover, holding my head. Wow, all this thinking is giving me a headache. Maybe I should just stop. Okay, Art. Think of something…

Ah, rock music! Of course! Think of that rock and roll bit in the first _Transformers_ movie where Megan Fox's character is driving Bumblebee on the back of the pick-up truck to deal with that tank thing. Yeah, just like that.

I come out of cover and shoot at some geth that get dangerously close to strike team Mannovai. I continue to fire on the geth that are beginning to swarm us in droves as we move along. We get into new cover, and I hear Jarel fire the rocket launcher. It clears out a whole bunch of geth, and then…

Oh! We're already at the AA tower! Wow… That was certainly faster than I expected! Okay, let's hunker down here and wait for Shepard to secure the bomb. Once the bomb is in place, I radio them about how we're overwhelmed, they come here, they send the drop ship to the nuke, and it's all

I look to the other salarians.

Wait… Something just occurred to me… If I'm letting all these guys die for myself… Wait, no! No no no no no! Art, what the hell are you doing? No… I can't believe myself…

Shit… I'm separating team Aeghor from the rest of them somehow… What if the other two teams didn't stay with us… And besides, they still have an opening. They can get through!

Oh! Okay. I think I've got this. Besides, there are a ton of geth heading this way, and we'll likely do enough damage as we get ourselves cornered.

"Mannovai and Orzammar teams!" I say. "Head to the rendezvous point! I'll hunker down here and see if I can hold these people off!"

"Serviceman, are you crazy?" asks Jarel. "You can't possibly hold them off here!"

"We'll rejoin you at the rendezvous point!" I reiterate. "Go! You might be able to thin the crowd for us!"

Not so, but hey, I need something to get them with.

And with this, they seem to get the message that we're not moving. And so, I see Mannovai and Orzammar make extremely fast exits, shooting at geth behind them as they leave the AA tower. I see their forms rush out. Okay, they'll be safe. I hope. I only need a few more minutes and we'll be closer to home than ever…

"Aeghor team, stay behind cover!" I say. "And whatever you do, do not come up unless you're shooting something!"

I don't get anything confirming my response. Okay. I'm taking that as a good sign, because they've been regarding me with silence the entire battle. Okay… I grab out my assault rifle, looking up to the sky softly.

Okay. You're getting so close to the plotline death. Focus. You can ponder how your family will react to your resurgence when you actually get there. Don't worry, Art. You'll be fine. This will just transport you back home… But what if it kills me for real? What then? No, it will send you home. Just… No matter what, you died a good man here. A good, brave, man. You'll be sent home either way. And then things will be wonderful when you get there.

My focus needs more focus. Because this thinking is getting ridiculous.

I take a deep breath before looking outside to where the geth are. The synthetics are coming in droves now, such that we're being overtaken.

Well, if I'm going to go out like this, I might as well go out with a bang!

I come out of cover with assault rifle in hand, aiming at a large cluster of geth. I take this cluster out, and then I turn my assault rifle as it's firing to sweep through. This takes down the shields of a rather large amount of the geth, and then another of the salarians are able to finish them off for me. Okay. Reload, and let's try killing some more geth.

I peek out of cover again as more geth come in. My assault rifle manages to take two down, but as soon as it does two more take its place. I duck back down behind cover as my shields take a hit. Okay, stay under cover, reload…

I come back up, and suddenly I see a bunch of geth troops surrounding us. They're firing at our position, and they don't seem to want to stop. I look out there, and I suddenly see that there is an opening. A drop ship just showed up here, it seems. Shit… Okay, this was a bad idea.

I grab my assault rifle and fire another series of shots at some geth, but I'm forced to retreat to cover quickly. I turn to the other salarians, who are firing at the geth around them. I've gotta admit their bravery. They'll fight to the bitter end of whatever comes their way without any qualms later. I admire them for this, even as we're being surrounded.

I come out of cover again, and find myself facing down some more geth. I aim my assault rifle and fire as many shots as I can. Oh, hey, I got a headshot! Yay! I continue firing, taking down another geth and the shields of another.

I duck back behind cover and quickly reload. Okay… We just need to hold out until Shepard calls me up over the comm unit. Once that happens, we're home free. I come out of cover and fire my assault rifle again. One of them manages to get a shot in, but it ricochets off of my shields. It hits a salarian close by me, and then he goes down.

Shit!

"Medic!"

The medic runs over to the injured salarian as quickly as he can, and he works on patching the wound very, very fast. As he works, I peer over cover, reloading and firing at the geth from the direction whence the bullet came.

Fuck! I fucking hate these things!

We exchange fire for several minutes, and I can see that there is no end to the geth as another salarian finds himself getting injured. The poor medic is trying to patch everybody up, but I can tell he's getting tired from all of the fighting…

Shit… Any time now, Shepard… Any time…

"Shepard to strike teams, we are arming the nuke now," says Shepard. "Head to the rendezvous point."

Finally! All right… The plotline death is almost here.

I hide behind cover as I use my comm unit. "Negative, Commander!" I say. "I sent two teams to the rendezvous point, but my team is trapped at the AA Tower! There are geth everywhere! I don't think we'll make it to the rendezvous point!"

There's a pause as Shepard contemplates her actions… Okay…

"All right," she says over the comm after a bit of thinking time. "Hang tight there, Art. I'll be coming to get you!"

Right… Okay, everything's going according to plan. So now… "Wait, what about the nuke?" I ask loudly.

"Ash will be staying behind to finish some things," she replies. "Hang in there, Serviceman. I'm coming."

Okay, Ash will be staying…

Wait, couldn't I just avoid casualties altogether? I mean, have more people stay behind at the nuke. And then send a small team to get me…

No… If I suggest that, I lose my only chance of going home. I've got no choice. Sorry, Ash, but at the end of the day one of us is going to die as planned.

Oh well. At least my presence saved Kaidan Alenko. I hope it'll be enough to save Ash too.

I peer out of cover and fire at a few geth. Okay, only a few minutes until the dropship… Drop geth constantly… I reload and fire almost mechanically now. I've been fighting for what seems like days on end. And yet, I know it will never be enough. I see the medic slam his supplies against the ground in frustration at his failure to save one of his comerades, and that doesn't help at all.

"Team Mannovai to Aeghor," I hear over the comm. "We're turning back to help you."

I blink at this. Should I… Well… No and yes… I don't know. Ah, fuck it. Just let them help me. It won't make a difference soon enough.

"Okay then," I say. "Make your way back to the AA tower and let's hope all goes well!"

And with this, I hunker down, my assault rifle in hand as I fire a few last rounds into the geth all around us. Okay… just hold on… The plotline death is so close I can taste it… It tastes so bitter right now… But then, I'll miss these guys. Just hold the phone… Mom, Dad, Anneli, Augie, Pupa… I'll be home soon. Joc, Sturge, expect a phone call in the next few days when I return…

I suddenly see a massive dropship fly overhead from where I stood behind cover, Aeghor team all around me as I look around. Shit, here's where they come to Ash. I see the dropship race over to the other end of the base. Okay... so close...

"Shepard," I say, activating the comm link. "I see a geth drop ship. It's heading to your location!"

"It's already here!" replies Ash loudly. "And it's bleeding geth!"

There's silence as I hear bullets whizzing overhead. Shepard speaks next. "Can you hold them off?" she asks.

"There's too many," replies Ash. "I don't think we can survive until you get here."

I hear some buttons being pushed, and then her voice rings out the damning words that make this a one or the other situation.

"I'm activating the bomb."

I feel... tense. I'm so close to the plotline death. I'll go home. I've said goodbye to everyone. Told them how I really feel about them. Thought about it long and hard. And now... now my heart is racing at nearly ten times the speed of light. She activated the bomb. And there's no time to reverse that. And now it's up to Shepard.

"Williams, what the hell are you doing?" she asks into the comm link.

"I'm making sure this bomb goes off!" she replies. "No matter what happens!"

There is a tense period where I sit against my cover, not daring to peek out. Finally, after a few second's Ash's voice comes over the intercom.

"It's done," says Ash. "Go get Art and get the hell out of here!"

I bring myself up to the com. "No, Shepard!" I shout. "Go back and get Ash! We can hold ourselves here! Go back and get Ash!"

There is a brief silence. I look over to the geth, and...

"*********," she says. "Radio Joker and tell him to meet you at the AA Tower."

What? She's... She's coming to me? No!

"What?" I ask, too shocked to hide it. "No! Go back and get Williams!"

"That's an order, Serviceman!" reiterates Shepard.

"No!" I say. No, no no no no. You can't fucking do this to me! I wanna fucking go home, god damn it! Fuck! No! "Ash is more valuable than I am! Go the fuck back and get her!"

"Serviceman *********, that is an _order!_" she reiterates. "You are to-!"

"I noticed!" I shout into the comm. "And I won't fucking follow it, Commander! Go the fuck back to that fucking nuke, and get Ashley motherfucking Williams out of here! Go back to her!"

"We don't have time for this," she says plaintively. "If you don't follow that order, I'll comm him myself, and I'll make sure you are thrown off the Normandy the instant I contact the Council!"

No... Fuck... No... This can't be fucking real... Fuck... Shit... No... Fuck... I can't bring my gun to my head... Or... Fuck... No... This wasn't how... No... But why... No... Go get Ash... No... Yourself... No no no no no... I want to... No, Ash... Home... Life... Ash... Normandy...

"... Y... yes... Commander..." I say. "I... I'll-"

"You know it's the right choice, *********," says Ash into the comm link. "It was an honor teaching you."

"Hang tight, Ash," says Shepard. "We'll come and get you."

I shake my head. "Somehow, we all fucking know it won't fucking happen like that," I say darkly.

And I disconnect the comm link. Fuck... This wasn't how it was supposed to be! They were supposed to go after Ash! They were supposed to fucking go after Ashley fucking Williams! Why the fuck are they going after me? She's a fucking Gunnery Chief! I'm just a fucking earthborn, playing fucking toy soldiers in a fucking video game with a fucking... No... This can't be right... Fuck...

Hesitantly, I reach my ear piece, and I hesitantly bring my fingers up to it.

"J... Joker..." I say, barely able to contain my disbelief. "G... Go to the AA Tower. S-shepard and a few of us will meet you there..."

"Ay-ay, *********," he says. "Heading there now. I'll get as close as I can."

No... No... this can't be real... No... This can't fucking be...

Those fucking geth... If they hadn't... If Saren hadn't... No... Fuck...

My thoughts collapse, and I let out an incoherent shriek of rage so loud and so high-pitched that hurts my throat.

And all other rational thought melts away as I come out of cover. The only thing I'm aware of for the next few minutes are blurs. Geth falling by my side. Bullets chipping away at my shields. The cries of the salarians as they see me out of my cover. The glowing geth eyes. The traces of red that are haunting the edges of my vision. The blur. The motion. The amount of geth in the room. My mind shuts itself to all else, and I let loose every bullet I had in my guns, not bothering to reload. When I run out of ammo, I drop both my pistol and my assault rifle, and when I run out of shotgun ammo I resort to bashing the geth on the head with the butt of my shotgun. I see a juggernaut, and before I know what I'm doing I'm straddling its chest, bashing its head in with the butt of my shotgun. I do so repeatedly, getting faster and screaming and crying and raging the entire time.

I lose all sense of feeling. I'm vaguely aware of someone grabbing my arm, forcing me to drop my shotgun. No, let me go you son of a bitch! Let me go! I need to kill this one thing!

After a struggle, I'm dragged back by incredibly strong arms as I thrash around in the air, shrieking and sobbing the entire time. It is a haze again until I see myself in the Normandy's cargo bay. And then, feeling slowly returns to me. I'm being dragged by Wrex. I'm being held in the cargo hold. And the Normandy is gaining distance from the ground.

No... This has to be a lucid dream or something. It has to be. It has to-!

I hear the sound of a nuclear explosion go off as I lose myself in my thoughts. Wrex sets me down. I move to do something when Shepard comes and gives me a stare that causes me to freeze in place. She simply stares me down without saying anything at all. It's... chilling... And I'm suddenly aware of a few punctures in my armor from when the shields completely dropped. And I'm aware of a dull pain in my right arm.

And then it hits me. This is not a dream. Ashley Williams is dead. I'm still alive. I was not caught in the blast on Virmire. My plans fell apart. I'll never see my home again. I'll never see any of my family again. I'm trapped here. I'll be forever stuck in a world that I have no place in.

It all comes crumbling apart. I don't even reply to Shepard's gaze before the tears come from my eyes. I don't notice her expression as I close my eyes, and I collapse, feeling the floor of the Normandy's cargo hold meet me at the halfway point.

And I wail out in lamentation, the wail being the only vocalization I can muster to describe how hopeless it all is.


	17. Chapter 16

____

A/N: Okay, wow, I got this chapter done really fast... This is a record, swear. Granted a huge chunk of the end of the chapter was already written up well before the events at Virmire occurred, but still, I got the rest of it written up pretty damn quickly. So yeah.

_This chapter is when Art gets all emo and stuff. And to that end, the chapter's namesake comes in to provide depressing music. You can check it out here: http:/ www. youtube. com /watch?v=0T7giFZ8kjA_

_Take out the spaces, and let the thing play. There's actually a specific spot I can think of where you can listen to it and see what I was going for. So when Tali gets her chance to talk to Art... that's when to go at it. Trust me, you'll know the approximate place when you see this symbol: -%&%-_

_So that's that. You'll see what happens next, right? Away chapter!_

* * *

_"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."_

-Anonymous

_____

* * *

_

Chapter 16: Mahler: Adagietto

"Damn it, Serviceman! What were you thinking, defying orders like that?"

"Ash was going to fucking die and you know it! You should've gone back to save her! Why the flying fuck would you come for me?"

"Serviceman, there were other salarians there! I went to you because that would ensure the least casualties. It's good I came when I did, Serviceman! Most of team Aeghor almost died trying to defend themselves there, all because you sent the others to the rendezvous point! Were you _trying_ to die?"

"You wouldn't fucking understand, Shepard!"

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Serviceman! You're lucky you're not actually Alliance personnel, otherwise I would have booted you off this ship first chance I got. Defying orders like that is no small matter, Serviceman! From the way you behaved on the battlefield it seemed as if you were an entirely different man from the one I know!"

Debriefing… Fuck, this is not going well. It's bad enough my cover is barely being maintained… But then I have to face shouting from Shepard both for sending the other two salarian teams over and nearly disobeying an order. I've been sitting in my seat, and we've basically been having what amounts to a shouting match. I'm trying desperately to hold on to my cover and to my composure. Real men don't cry, after all. But it's getting too fucking hard. The rest of the crew is a little uncomfortable, and every so often I can see them exchanging glances with each other. Some are perturbed, some are very frightened, but most of them are pitiful. I don't know why, but I think they're too afraid to say anything. But… I don't deserve to be defended. I couldn't save Ash. What kind of student am I to let my teacher die?

The Commander gives me a strange look. "Maybe if you hadn't sent the salarians ahead, Ash would still be standing there!" she says.

"It doesn't fucking matter!" I reply. "There were too many fucking geth! They would've overwhelmed us even if I hadn't sent the other teams away! I was trying to keep them safe! You should've fucking gone for Ash!"

Shepard's frown intensifies as she looks over to me. "You know the reason they went back was because of you, right?" she says dangerously. "The only reason I was able to get to you before the bomb went off was because they were there to help! And they were telling me all about how you sent them away, saying you would join them later. I don't believe their 'heroic sacrifice' bullshit. You were clearly trying to get yourself killed!"

"And why the fuck does that matter?" I shout at her. "Things just fucking happened! My feeling got the better of me, all right? If anyone was to die, I didn't… I didn't want it to be anybody else! So why can't you just leave me be?"

"Because you nearly cost us _all_ of our lives!" roars Shepard. "If you had just radioed Joker as I commanded you to, we likely wouldn't be having this conversation!"

"I wanted you to save Ash!" I shout back. "Why the fuck didn't you-?"

"We've been over this already!" shouts Shepard. "Ashley Williams was prepared to die for any cause! There were more of you and less of her when I made my decision! I did not sacrifice her lightly!"

I look at her, shaking in a combination of rage and grief. I can't believe she doesn't get it! Why won't she just listen to me for once? I—

"Commander, if I may," says Kaidan. I turn to him, and he's standing.

"What do you want, Lieutenant?" asks Shepard.

It is here that the Lieutenant nods shortly. "I've been suspecting Serviceman ********* for a while," he begins. Oh, I fucking knew it! "He always seemed to know more about what was going on than any of the rest of us, and to me this came out the most during the Feros mission and mostly when he was saying goodbye to all of us before the mission."

He breathes. Shit, I'm fucked, aren't I? No… I'm definitely fucked. Ah, damn it, I shouldn't have tried to get myself killed! I shouldn't have said goodbye! I shouldn't have met Tali at the Citadel! At least then I wouldn't be dealing with all this!

"With all due respect, Commander, I think the Serviceman is right in his own way."

Wait… what? No! You're not supposed to be jumping to my defense! No way! But…

"Alenko, aren't you pissed about Ash?" I ask. "You shouldn't—"

"You should have handled the mission better than you ultimately did," he replies. "And your behavior was always a little off to me. But the entire time you've been on the Normandy, you've never tried to stop us. That you were always—"

"Get to the point, Lieutenant," commands Shepard tersely. "I've had enough of wandering around in circles."

Kaidan nods at this. "Commander… my feeling is that he knew that this was going to happen," he says. "Somehow, he knew exactly what was going to happen. I know it sounds insane, but trust me on this. My feeling is that it was involving Ash, and exactly this scenario. I think… he was trying to save her in some way. As if to make sure that all of the rest of us got out alive…" He looks over to the spot Ash used to sit in during debriefing. "I want to be angry at the Serviceman. But the fact is, I can't. Not while knowing that he ultimately had the best interests of the rest of the crew of the Normandy and his teacher in mind. Even though he attempted to disobey an order, I trust the Serviceman. I trust him, even if he hasn't been completely honest with us. He cares a lot about all of us, Commander. And it would be a disservice to him if you punished him for insubordination."

… Holy shit… I wasn't expecting that of you. I was figuring your suspicion would actually get me in trouble… But no… You're defending me… I don't deserve it, but thanks. It's almost enough for me to forgive you in advance for what I'm sure you'll do to Shepard on Horizon two years from now. Almost. Well… I'll consider it thanks for definitively sparing your life on Virmire. Even if you don't know that it was so. You're welcome, Kaidan.

Shepard looks to her Lieutenant, crossing her arms tentatively. "I guess," she says. "But he was under orders that he should have followed regardless. And for that, he should be punished. Serviceman, you are denied shore leave to the Citadel. As well, you will not be partaking in the next mission. I want you to think about what you almost did to the salarians when you tried to get yourself killed."

Wait… what? You mean you're not letting me onto Ilos? No!

"Damn it, Shepard!" I shout back. "Why the fuck didn't you-?"

"I said it once and I'll say it again," she says. "Disobeying an order is serious business!"

… Oh, Jesus Christ on a pikestaff! I'm talking to a brick wall here! Even with Kaidan's defense, she still won't listen to me!

I cross my arms, frowning darkly as I shake my head.

"Fuck this."

And I turn on my heel and walk towards the exit of the briefing room. "Serviceman, you—!"

"I said _fuck this!_" I turn on my heel right at the door of the briefing room as I shout out at her. "I tried saving Ash for you! I kept on telling you to go back to get her instead of me precisely because I wanted her to get out of that fucking hellhole alive! Why the fuck won't you just acknowledge that for once and forget about your stupid fucking Alliance regs? Why won't you just… Why didn't…"

No… Ash, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry… I should've tried harder… I'm sorry… No, Art, don't lose it here… Not here…

I shake my head as I feel tears welling up in my eyes. "I'll be at my quarters," I say, my voice cracking. "Don't bother me unless the ship's about to explode."

And with this, I leave the briefing room. When the door shuts behind me, I shake my head as tears threaten to come… Shit… I could've saved you Ash… But now… you're dead…

And now… I'll never get to see my family or friends again… I spent my entire life there. Why is it that when I get the chance to go back… Oh, damn it!

I say nothing to anybody when I walk back through the ship to my quarters. When I get there, the first thing I do is to pass-protect the doors. I use Sturge's name… Oh… damn it… Why… Why…

I fall to the ground as soon as I enter my quarters, and I let out a moan of grief. I pound the floor with my fist and shake my head, tears beginning to spill out as I lay there.

Fuck you, Erik Satie! You started this mess with your stupid fucking piece with your stupid 34 chords and your stupid 18 hours of music! And now, because of you, I've been separated from everyone I've ever loved forever! I've been separated from my perfectly normal life that didn't include beating impossible odds over and over again! I didn't fucking do anything to you, Erik! Why the fuck did you fucking do this to me?

No… Shepard is the one to blame! If she had just gone after Ashley fucking Williams I would be back home… No… Fuck them both. Fuck them both to fucking hell!

I lay there for a few minutes before coming up. When I look on the bed, I see the orange paperweight that Benezia gave me, along with the datapad I had left as my farewell note to whoever found the paperweight.

Oh… Damn it… I can't believe I'm seeing it again… Oh… For the love of… Why…

I slowly work my way onto the bed and take the paperweight in my hand. I look at it, seeing the way the light shimmers off of it. I wish… I wish I could be back home… I wish you could actually hear me… Because I have no one else to talk to who'll believe me. I have nobody else who will listen without saying I've gone insane first. I have nobody else to vent my sadness and anger to…

"Oh, Benezia," I mutter softly. "If only you knew what it was to be me… If only you fucking knew…"

And I hold the paperweight to my face, letting the first tears I've shed for Ashley Williams fall slowly as I grieve for both Ash and everybody else I knew…

* * *

A few hours later, my stomach rumbles. For the first time in forever, I ignore that feeling. I've erased the message on the datapad and put away the orange paperweight that now is my only companion in this world. I'm not stepping out of this room for as long as I can. And if I lose stuff over it, big fucking deal. I'm only escaping when I have to pee or take a shit. And even then, it's when I can be sure that there's nobody in the hall. I want to avoid people as much as possible.

I shake my head, thinking about Augie. I wonder what he's watching now. I'll bet it's the first _Transformers_ movie again. It's a shame he'll likely never get around to watching the first season of the 80's TV series. I wish he would; I spent quite a bit of money to pay for that as a birthday present. Or maybe he is watching it right now. Oh, Augie… If only I could contact you somehow… I just wish my cell phone would work the way it did in _Spellbinding Radiance…_ Maybe then, I could send a text message or something. But no… I have no way of contacting them…

I shake my head. No… Now's not the time to think about that… But my best way of going home was just taken away. What do I do now?

"I should've thought about this better…" I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "What do I do now…?"

Oh, why—

There is a sudden knocking on my door. I jump up, incredibly startled.

"Art, are you all right in there?"

Oh. It's Kaidan. I… I can't believe he'd violate my wishes! Still… he did defend me back there… I'll cut him some slack.

"No," I say. "Just leave me alone."

I hear a hesitant pause on the other side of the door. "Won't you at least come to mess?" he asks.

"No," I say. "Have someone come down here and give me some food. That'll be fine enough."

I can sense Kaidan's hesitation by the door as there is silence. I wonder, has he left already?

"If… if you want that," he says. Okay, he's still there.

I nod, and then I hear him step away. Wait…

"Oh, and Kaidan?" I ask, my voice just a little bit louder.

I can hear him pause midstep and turn back to the door. "Yes, Art?" he asks.

I swallow, looking to the door. "Thanks," I say. "For standing up for me back during debriefing. And for trusting me." For what it's worth, I don't deserve it.

I can feel the expression he makes as he shifts around. "You know, everyone else jumped to your defense after you left," he adds. "Tali, Wrex, Garrus, Liara…. They all agreed with you for their own reasons. It was enough to convince Shepard to let you come onto the next mission."

Oh… They came to my defense after all… They really are my friends…

"I see…" I say. "Tell them I say thanks."

"I will."

And with this, I hear him step away from the door. I sit back down on the bed to think about it.

My friends here really are my friends… They care about me just as much as I care about them… Shit, maybe I shouldn't have tried to get myself killed back on Virmire. But… I'd rather be back home where everyone I knew over my entire lifetime would be than with people I've known partly for two years and only recently got to know fully. Still, I should've known this. I would've realized how hard they would have taken my death if only I had seen something like this.

Oh… Why does this have to be so fucking complicated? This is ridiculous!

A few minutes later, I hear knocking on the door.

"I got you something," says Kaidan as he sets the tray down on the floor. "I'll leave it by the door so you can get it."

I nod at this. "Thanks, Kaidan," I shout to him.

I hear him step away. Okay, let's see if he really is keeping to his word. I walk to the door, type in the password with my omni-tool, and listen as the door whooshes open. I look down and see a tray of still hot food with a nice glass of water. I peer through the hall to see no trace of the Lieutenant. He doesn't cloak like the Infiltrator class can in ME2, so… I guess the coast is clear.

I grab the tray and bring it in, the door closing behind me. It automatically locks, thank god, so I just bring it to my desk and set the tray down. I grab the fork, and prod my food.

And then, I give it a good look, and have an odd feeling of déjà vu. I know I've seen this kind of plate somewhere before, but… but where have I seen it?

Oh, well… I'll think about that later. I bring my fork over to the food and test the waters, so to speak. I prod it, and then twirl it about in my fork before bringing a forkful up to my mouth. Creamier taste than most, chicken… and that's pasta?

I swallow, almost too quickly for my own taste.

Shit… This is chicken alfredo…

And it was Ash's favorite mess item.

Oh… Damn it! I couldn't save Ash… I can't believe I couldn't save her… I was going there mostly for me… but it would have saved her too… Oh, Ash…

I place my fork back on the tray as I begin to cry anew. I'm sorry, Ash. I failed you. I failed you so hard it's ridiculous. I didn't deserve to be your student. I'm sorry too that I gave you such a hard time… Oh, damn it… Shepard should've gone for her! At least I would have gone wherever I would have from dying knowing that she was safe!

Damn it all to fucking hell!

It takes me a few minutes to get my nerves together well enough to pick up my fork again and continue eating. The food isn't too bad, but now there's the bitter taste of tears. And as I eat it, I can't help but feel guilty about it. Ash… I'm so sorry.

When I'm almost done, however, I notice that I can't get this one piece of pasta on my fork. I look down at it and sift my fork through it again. Oh, come on, you son of a bitch! Stick to the fucking fork! Come on! I keep on jabbing it again and again, my movements getting more frustrated. Come the fuck on! Get on the fucking-! Jesus Christ, do as I-! Damn it!

I let out a yell after about the twelfth time of trying to get the pasta on my fork. I grab the plate then and hurl it against the wall, a crash sounding out as I turn my attention to the now empty glass of water. I grab that and hurl that against the wall, the crash of glass resounding through the small room as I grab my tray. Almost without thinking, I begin to bang the thing against the projector for my terminal, the metal resounding with an incredibly loud clang as it dents. I end up hitting it against the desk, the metal clashing loudly as I then toss the tray into the wall where the shards of glass, the food, and the plate now rest. At the end of it all, I stand there and breathe, my eyes wide and deranged as I look upon the mess I've made.

Damn it… Why couldn't I have saved Ash? This is unfair…

I shake my eyes as my rage quickly melts away. I lay down on the bed and cry again.

Ash… I'm so sorry I couldn't save you… I'm sorry I had to be the one to be spared… I'm so, so sorry…

I shake my head. Fuck... Men don't cry… I can't let them see me like this… I'm staying in here for as long as I can… And I'm never coming out, not even to take care of hygiene… I need time to get over my failure to my teacher, my friend, the gunnery chief, and a squad member that I grew attached to both as a gamer and as a soldier.

* * *

When Kaidan came by the next morning seeing that I wasn't ready to budge, he left breakfast over. I couldn't eat it without getting angry and throwing that plate against the wall either. Why did Ash have to die? I don't get it…

I sit in front of the damaged terminal, holding my head up with my hand.

I know my family cares. And only now I'm beginning to realize what I lost. I was beginning to get annoyed with them. At first, I knew I wouldn't be hearing from them, and that came as something of a relief since they never learned how to leave me alone while I was back home. But now, I can see why they did that. With no word on the state of their son… Oh, damn it…

Now I realize why they wanted to hear so much from me. It gave them some form of security. A form of security that they don't have anymore, regardless of what happened to me over there. And now, I don't have the knowledge that they're safe and that life for them is going on as usual. Hell… They could be taking Augie to the keys or yelling at Anneli again… But somehow it just won't be the same because I'm not there anymore. They'll never feel so happy with Augie there because they know I'll never be able to join them. They'll be harder with Anneli because they're afraid of losing another child.

My parents really do care about me, and only now do I realize it. Shit… I should never have played that Satie piece. If I hadn't, I would probably be at home, enjoying another of Pupa's meals or having a nice telephone chat with Joc or visiting New World again to say hi to Sturge… I'd never have met anybody here, but at least they would know I was safe.

And I would know they were safe. The scariest thing about all this is that I'll never know what's happening to my family. If I could go back in time… I would go back to the day before I played that Satie piece and called everyone I ever cared about and said goodbye…

I… I didn't just fail Ash. I failed my family too.

An abrupt knock interrupts my thoughts, and I bolt up in my seat.

"Art, are you all right in there?" asks Garrus' voice from the hallway.

Oh, god damn it, I told them to leave me alone!

"Leave me alone, Garrus!" I shout.

The turian is silent at the other end of the door as I turn to face it. "Art, this can't be healthy for you," he says. "You should come out."

"Fuck you!" I say, shaking my head. "I don't want to come out!"

"You're not doing well in there," he says. "Maybe if you came out and talked to us… Maybe it would—"

"I don't expect you to understand," I snapped back. "Just leave me alone or I'll space you and every other motherfucker on this ship!"

Garrus is rather silent at this, and I shake my head as I feel the tears threatening to come again. Thank Jesus my door is locked right now.

And then, I hear the sound of his footsteps wander away from the door. They fade away, and I shake my head.

Just leave me alone. I want to think for a little bit here!

Dad… I know we weren't on the best of terms… But I wish you could know how much I care. You were no Ethan Mars, but you did what you could for me when I was there. Even when we grew distant… I hated you for getting angry for no reason… but now I know I was wrong to do so. Now I know why Tali regarded me so coldly when I told her I grew to hate him. It was a disservice to everything he had ever done for me. Now I know…

I wish I could see him again, if only for one moment. I wish I could see him again, if only to say sorry to him for every time I got angry at him over the fact that I wasn't being listened to. I wish…

Oh, what's the use of wishing?

I shake my head and continue to ponder.

* * *

Liara attempted to get me to leave the room about an hour later. That went about as well as you'd expect. I threw my lunch at the wall again. I haven't been able to have a single meal where I don't throw something at the wall. It's beginning to show; it's beginning to really smell in here.

But in my book, it doesn't matter. I don't want them to see me so broken up like this… Especially over something that happens all the time in war. _Achilles in Vietnam_ talked about the death of a special comerade, but I don't think of Ash as that special comerade…

I ponder back to Pupa. Oh, Pupa… You were the sweetest person. I wish I could tell you that. Going to lunch with you when I came home from Boston was one of my favorite things to do in the entire world. Even if you're a Republican and I'm a Democrat, it was always interesting to see what we would talk about here. At least you weren't tea party… And the food was always good. But I loved them mainly because I loved to be able to talk to you. It was enlightening… and I'll never forget some things we've talked about as long as I live.

I wish I could be in one of those situations right now. Not trapped in the Mass Effect universe like this… I'm at least glad I got to tell you it was so when I came for my last winter break. It makes the recollection a little less painful than it would have been otherwise.

I still treasure those moments… I wish I could live them again…

No. I wish I was still back home. I wish… I wish I could see my family and friends again. I wish I could just get back to composing and playing my viola. I need those more than ever before. And the worst part is, I can't get back home now through a plotline death. Maybe if I stayed on the Normandy, but I have a feeling that wouldn't work as well as I'd like since XO Pressley was the only really major character who died on the Normandy when the Collector ship attacked it. Plus, knowing my luck Shepard would probably shove me into the escape pod the way she should've when Joker refused to comply.

Fuck… I just want to go home!

I'm startled by more knocking on the door. Oh, for the love of—

"Art, I've come here to tell you that you've just lost the game!"

Wrex. He's the only one that makes me lose the game so regularly. Not like I care right now.

"Fuck you," I reply bitingly. "I thought I told everyone who came before you to leave you alone!"

"Kid, you can't just stay in there forever," he says. "We've all gotta come to terms with grief."

"And what the fuck do you know of it?" I ask, glaring at the door. "You wouldn't understand what I'm going through right now!"

"Art, krogan know war," replies the krogan. "We know it involves death. Ash was prepared—"

"This has nothing to do with that!" I shout, flaying my arm out. "We couldn't save her! _I_ couldn't save her! She could've been saved! That's what this is all about! Not about Ash dying! It was totally preventable, Wrex!"

"And then yours wouldn't have been preventable!" he replies. "Art, come out."

"No," I reply simply. "Kaidan, Liara, and Garrus couldn't change my mind. You won't either."

"Art… I'll keep on making you lose the game until you come out," he said.

"So I fucking lost the game!" I shout. "Big fucking deal, Wrex!"

I can almost feel the krogan shaking his head in disapproval. I hear him shift in his step before continuing. "This isn't just about Ashley's death," he says. "There's more to it."

"More than anybody on this ship would understand!" I reply. "I doubt even Liara would understand! This is something I have to deal with on my own!" Now go away!

"You don't have to deal with anything on your own!" replies the krogan. "You helped me get my armor back without knowing half the reason it was important. Let me help you out here!"

I shake my head. "That's different," I reply. "You don't know shit about me. Hell, you don't even know where I'm from, except that I'm from Earth!"

"It's better than nothing," replies Wrex. "Now come out and tell me what the problem is."

I stand up and walk straight to the door. "Go away!" I shout at the krogan. "I don't want anybody at my door anymore! Leave me alone!"

"Art, you're not—!"

"I don't fucking care what anybody on this ship thinks!" I scream out. "I just want to be left alone! And the same goes for you too! Go fuck yourself, you stupid fucking _krogan_!"

There is a palpable tension in the air as I say this. Wrex is silent.

And then, without a word, I hear him stomp off angrily. I think he's going to go punch something right now.

Let him go punch something. Maybe even draw my face on it. I deserve no less. Oh… Oh, what have I done? I think I've alienated him…

No… I don't know…

Oh, damn it! I should never have given myself a cover story! At least then I could tell them what it is to be separated from everybody you ever loved and cared about for all eternity! But no… Damn it!

I should've thought of this when I came up with the cover story! Damn it…

Stupid, Art! You're fucking stupid! I bite down on my hand, having nothing sharp to cut myself with other than the knives: and I know that's going to force me to come out when my hands get infected from the cuts. I bite it until I feel the tears well in my eyes once again. I'm fast running out of tears to cry, I've been in such grief.

Just… Why?

I don't know anymore. And maybe I never will.

Oh… What's the use! I'm trapped here, and I'm never going back… And I…

Oh, damn it!

I run over to the metal wall and punch it as hard as I can. My fist collides so hard with the metal that I can't help but rear it back and punch the wall again. I punch it repeatedly, letting out an inarticulate syllable as I do so. The tears come freely now, and I only continue to hit it until my fist can't possibly take it anymore.

And just as suddenly as I start, I rear back, the dull pain in my knuckles reminding me of what I did to myself. I see them bleed a little bit, but I don't care. I deserve everything that happens to me from here on out.

I shake my head and wrap it with one of the napkins that didn't end up in the decaying food that used to be my meal before pacing around and crossing my arms. The bleeding stops… eventually. And I'm left to my own devices again. I begin reviewing my life with a certain amount of sadness now tinting each and every memory with the knowledge that I would never see any of the people I shared those memories with again.

* * *

I paced around for about three hours before I worked up the nerve to do something else. I decided to sit on the bed and think for a while.

As I sit on the bed again, I hear footsteps outside of my door.

"Art, open the door!" Tali. Well, it looks like she joined the bandwagon of people trying to prove something to me.

I shake my head. "Just leave me alone!" I say, bringing a palm to my face. God, why won't they just leave me alone? Can't they see I want to be left alone?

"All right, that does it!" shouts the quarian. I hear her type away at her omni tool, and then the door to my quarters open against my will.

I panic, and stand up, hoping to shove her away. But she's already in, and sees the carnage I've left in there. The remains of the plates, the dented projector for my terminal, the various broken pieces of glass littering the floor... she sees all of it.

And she's speechless for a few seconds, the door hissing shut behind her.

"Keelah, Art," she says, voice chock full with horror. "You're really not taking Ashley's death too well."

"It's my fault I couldn't save her," I reply. "It's... I don't have anything else to take my rage out on..."

Tali shoots me a glare, and I could feel the venom in it right then and there. She is obviously not amused before she crosses her arms.

"You will start explaining exactly how you felt for Ashley, now," she says. "How exactly did you feel about her?"

Fuck... I can't do that... I can't tell her I planned to die on Virmire... She'd think I'm nuts!

I shake my head. "Tali, you know just as well as anyone how I feel about that," I say. "I was never in love with Ashley."

"Then why all this?" she asks, gesturing to the room. "There has to be some explanation for this behavior! You wouldn't just act like Rambo on your room for someone you only liked as a friend."

"Someone who thought I was an annoying prick," I retort, shaking my head. "I didn't feel anything for her, Tali!"

The quarian is not convinced. "You're lying," she tells me. "And you're hanging on to it."

"No... Tali... please..." I say. My cover is beginning to crumble. I can't... Must hang on to what I have...

"Damn it, Art, don't be a bosh'tet!" she says. "You can tell me what the problem is."

"But I can't!" I say, holding myself with tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. "I didn't feel anything for Ashley!"

A harsh slap greets me, and I stumble back. I grip my chin, feeling a sting where her three-fingered hand had slapped me.

"Please, Art, stop lying to yourself!" she shouted, pointing a finger at me. "Did you have feelings for her?"

"I did not!" I scream back, barely able to hold my tears back. "I did not!"

"Then why the hell are you so angry?" she asks.

"Here's a better question for you, _quarian_," I say, beginning to lose my composure. "Why the fuck do you care?"

She shakes her head. "Because, damn it, you're taking this too hard!" she says. "I'm worried about you, Wrex is worried about you, Garrus is worried about you, Shepard is worried about you, Liara is worried about you, Chakwas is worried about you, Kaidan is worried about you... even Joker's beginning to think something's wrong with you, and we both know you haven't socialized with him all that much! Damn it Art, we all just want you to get a hold of yourself!"

"You wouldn't understand," I say, turning my back to her and shaking my head. "You just wouldn't."

Tali shakes her head. "We won't understand, because you won't tell us," she replies. "Why are you so angry over Ashley's death?"

"Because I knew she was gonna fucking die!" I said, shaking my head and holding myself all the harder as begin to shudder, barely able to hold the tears in. "And I couldn't fucking save her when I-!"

"Keelah, Art, we knew that!" says Tali, throwing her arms up in the air as she begins pacing around the room. "Damn it, Art! Why are you-"

"You don't fucking understand! I knew she was going to fucking die _since I fucking arrived at the fucking Citadel!_"

The words are out of my mouth before I can hold them in. When I turn to face her, I suddenly realize what I've said, and suddenly I'm shaking all over. Fuck... I blew my cover... Shit... Shit...

Tali seems surprised, all the tension she had having evaporated. Now, her body language shows off being confused. She edge closer to me.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

I can still save myself. I have to. My cover story is all I have... I can't just...

"Tali, just leave," I say, turning around, a tear trickling down my cheek.

"No." Her reply is simple. I feel a three-fingered hand on my shoulder, and then she turns me so that I'm facing her. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what happened. How did you know she would die before you even met her? How did you know she existed?"

I shook my head. "You're still angry with me," I say weakly.

She shakes her head, her hand leaving my shoulder. "I am, but you're... You're not making sense," she said. "And it's scaring me, Art. Please, just tell me. All this hiding behind the door can't be good for you."

I... I can't hold my cover anymore. Not to Tali. Oh... Oh, what have I done? All she's ever done is show me kindness after kindness, and now I'm shoving her away. God damn it, she doesn't deserve this, least of all from me. We're each other's best friends on the Normandy. I can't... It's not fair. I need to stop lying to her. She deserves better. I... I'm going to tell her what really happened on the top floor of the conservatory. And if she doesn't believe me, fuck it. I don't care...

"She or Kaidan," I correct her, shaking my head. "I didn't know which..."

At this, she gives me an inquisitive glance, and she comes close to me again. "Art, what are you talking about?" she asks.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

I... There's no turning back. My identity is compromised the minute I decide to do this. I... I can't... I have to... It's...

"Tali..." I begin. "I... I've been practicing a huge lie on everyone concerning my actual identity. I... It's not fair... And... And..."

"And what?" she asks, coaxing me along.

"And... I think you deserve better," I say, shaking my head. I sniffle slightly before I continue. "Tali. I'll tell you everything. But I must ask you one thing: what I tell you now, is something that you must never, under any conditions, repeat to _anybody _else. No one must know about who I really am."

She tilts her head to the side. "Why?" she asks.

"For too many reasons," I say. "The least of which being that it'll confirm Kaidan's suspicions..."

Tali nods, standing there. She seems to be deep in thought as to whether to allow me. She'll probably do it anyway to get me out of here, but you never know with this things. After all, she is Tali: she wouldn't do something unless it's for everyone's good. And when I get a reply, she's draping an arm around my shoulder.

"All right," she says, gesturing to the bed. "I... I won't tell anyone. But please, no more of this hiding behind the door once you tell me, all right?"

I nod. "Thank you," I say. I take a seat on the bed, and Tali sits next to me. There is silence between us for a few seconds as my heart pounds against my ribcage in a way that I've never felt since I had sent in an application to those summer festivals. I... I need to gather my thoughts. Fuck... Only have one chance to do this right...

"Tali..." I say. "Before I begin, this goes back to before I even met you. Before you even knew I existed."

The quarian tilts her head to the side as I fish through my pockets. I keep my cell phone in my casual clothing's pocket, and so I pull that out and show her the thing. She glances down at it, nervous. She gives me a glance as she takes a hold of the phone. Glancing at me, she points to it.

"A vintage phone?" she asks, curious about what she is looking at. "I had heard about these technologies from Liara. I never thought I'd ever see one."

I shook my head. "It's not vintage," I say. "Where I'm from, it was all the rage. Turn it on."

"Art?" she asks, a litte confused.

"Tali, just... please, do as I say," I reply, feeling more nervous as I don't feel the tears coming on again.

-%&%-

She does so, and is surprised when the screen springs to life. "Keelah, Art, this thing is in working condition!" she said. "Why didn't you sell this instead of your wallet? You could have made..." She stops when she sees the morose expression on my face. She instantly stops, whatever she had in her mind instantly dying as I gesture to the object.

"Look at the date," I told her.

She glances down at the phone, but when she sees the date, she leans forward. Glancing at me and then at the phone, she nearly drops it if the fact that her hand is shaking says anything.

"2010?" She's so shocked she isn't even able to mutter Keelah. "Art... This phone's calendar is messed up! You know as well as I do that it's much more than 100 years after that!"

"There's no way to change the date on that thing," I reply morosely. "And even if there was, it wouldn't make a difference. Where I'm from, that's the correct date."

She glances at me, and I can feel her expression from where I'm sitting. "What do you mean?" she asks.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Here we go. There's no turning back once I say this.

"Tali, I... I'm from another dimension. Another dimension where that is the correct year."

There. I said it. I can hear a timpani roll behind me, but I know it's myself, so I make no comment on it.

She is silent for a bit, and for once I can't read her expression. I face the wall where the dented terminal rests, and I shake my head. "There was no stimulant trip," I say. "I never stowed away on some god damn cruiser. I was just sitting in a conservatory before I found myself in the Citadel... It's too complicated to explain... But it was a piece I was playing. I was trying to play it to see hallucinations... And it worked... It worked too fucking well..."

"So you're a dimensional traveller?" she asked me. "You do this instead of... whatever you told us you were doing?"

"No," I reply, shaking my head. "I'm still a musician. It was just that one time. I didn't even know I would get teleported to another dimension when I tried it."

Tali shifts slightly on the bed, edging closer to me. "And... What does this have to do with this situation?" she asks. "How does this mean that you knew what would happen?"

I sigh. "Tali... In this alternate dimension... this... you... Shepard... the _Normandy... _the Reapers... everything..." I gulp. Here comes the shocker. "It's all part of a video game back in my dimension. They call it _Mass Effect_. And... And it is exactly all this..."

I turn to her, trying to hold back a tear. "That's how I knew about... Ashley," I say, hesitating slightly when I say the gunnery chief's name. "I know everything about what's been going on. Saren, the Reapers, Benezia, Virmire, where the Conduit is, your salvation, the fight with Wrex... I knew about everything. I made the move to join the crew with the intent to give myself a purpose here. I knew what I was getting myself into. I couldn't tell anyone because... Well, first of all, they wouldn't believe me, and second of all, because it would rob me of my ability to tell the future. What little of it there is, as a few details changed. It's... It's incredibly complicated. I'll tell you everything later..."

Now I can read her expression. And she is so shocked by this that I can feel it in a palpable form next to me. "And that's not all," I say. "They released a sequel to this game three months before I came here. So... I know what'll happen to the crew for the next two years. I know the fate of this ship is to be destroyed by another ship it can't see coming. I know that we'll be going into a mission that none of us might be able to return from in more than two years. And I know that you will be serving on the starship Neema once you finish your Pilgrimage."

At the mention of the Neema, she jumps up. "What?" she says. "You know of the Neema? But..."

She shakes her head. "Keelah, Art," she continues in disbelief. "This... You expect me to believe all that? But... That is insanity. I... I know I should trust your word, but... We are a video game in your world? And you arrived here by playing something? Are you delusional?"

"I swear to God, I'm not..." I say.

Tali crosses her arms. I can tell she is not convinced by this. But at the same time, she seems willing to give me a chance. I should be thankful for that at least. "Then tell me something that you know that you shouldn't know if this... this game didn't exist," she says. "Other than the existence of the Neema. You'd have to be either extremely stupid or extremely delusional if you think I can be convinced by that."

I nod, thinking of a detail that she had never told anyone on the first Normandy. Clasping my hands together, I turn to her.

"The greatest sign of trust between two quarians is when they link suit environments," I say.

She whips her head around violently, looking at me incredulously. "Art?" she asks. "I never... How did you-?"

"You say it yourself in the sequel," I reply. "You feel a little sick at first... But as you adapt to the other's suit, you get better. It's the most intimate thing a quarian can do since you never take your suits off even among family. And so, linking environments is your way of showing that you trust them enough that you would risk your life to see their true face. It signals a need for intimacy."

Tali is speechless for a few seconds. She puts a hand on her breast, and I hear her breathing. She seems very stressed by all of this information, but nothing can seem to get through to her.

So I continue talking. "I know it's a lot of information for you to process..." I say. "And I don't expect you to believe all of it. But I swear, it's true... The details are really complicated, but I swear by the river Styx I'm telling the truth. It's why I tried so hard to convince Shepard to go to Ashley. I knew Ashley was gonna die if I didn't do something, and even if it was between her and Kaidan in the game, I still knew it would happen..."

Tali is silent for a little bit. And then she nods, and I notice her shoulders relax slightly.

"Nobody but a quarian would know what you just told me," she says. "And a quarian would never say it to another human unless he or she feels strongly about it. I never told you about it, and you lived on Earth your entire life... So I have reason to believe you. Art... I... I can't imagine how it must be if it's true... I mean, you seem to hold this game in high regard, but... It can't all be pleasant."

I shake my head, feeling the tears come slowly. "That's... the bigger part of why I'm taking this all so hard," I say. "Tali... You've got no idea how bad it is to be completely cut off from everybody you care about..." I pause as I attempt to gather my composure, attempting to hold back my tears. "It's hell, Tali. Back home... It hurts me to think about what everyone I knew is thinking. Mom and Dad are definitely worried as fuck, and the worst part is that I have no way to tell them that I'm alive and well and that they don't need to worry... And I've got no way to assuage the rest of my incredibly large family. I can never talk to Joc again... I'll never be able to talk to her about fanfiction and the Beatles and Rock Band and inserts... and I'll never be able to talk to Sturge... Sturge... my best friend in high school, and my biggest influence on who I am... I'll never be able to talk to him about Wagner operas ever again... It's..."

I take in a breath of air. "But what makes this all the worse is that I had my only way of going home taken away from me..."

Tali does not miss a beat in replying. "Explain," she says, although her tone beckons me.

"I got here by playing something called _Vexations_," I reply, shaking my head and trying to keep the tears from falling. I have to be strong. "It..." I sniffle in here. "It's a piece written by a man named Erik Satie which is thirty-four chords played over and over for eighteen hours. I tried doing it for six. That's how I got here; I hallucinated so horrendously that... I don't know... And I don't know why it happened either... It just... did... Don't bother asking me for the scientific explanation, your guess would be as good as mine."

Tali nods. "What's stopping you from doing it here?" she asks.

I shake my head. "_Vexations_ doesn't exist in dimension," I say. "I did an extranet search on Erik Satie, and I found absolutely nothing. I looked up the piece itself, and the one thing I found on it didn't match the description or the instrumentation of the piece as it is back in my dimension. So... I have no way of going home. And then Virmire came along."

Tali tensed. "So you are angrier about Shepard rescuing you," she replies, slightly hesitant if the appalled tone of her voice indicates anything. "And if I'm hearing it right, it's because you postulated that... you would be back home."

I nod grimly, sighing softly. "It was the best solution," I say. "I insisted on going with Shepard so that I could guard the bomb. I hoped that in the blast, I would find a way back home to my dimension. Stupid, I know, but it was the only thing I could think of that would help me get back home. Dying, I mean. I mean, so many others I've read about have died and gone to other places... so I figured, why couldn't I?"

"You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?" asks Tali.

"Yeah, I do," I reply. "But then, so does travelling to another dimension by doing something that isn't even supposed to kill you. And yet here I am."

The quarian nods in agreement. "Too true," she says. "Hard to believe, but it happened anyway. Why not just let yourself die on the battlefield?"

I shrug, still feeling quite down. "Well, first of all I wouldn't get the chance to save Ash, and second I wouldn't get away with it." I take a deep breath, fighting to keep my composure together. "I think if I had died... it would have worked out for all of us. Ashley and Kaidan would both still be alive, I would be back home, my friends and family would be relieved that I had returned, and... and I would be back to being a conservatory student, having a purpose that didn't involve killing everything in sight. But now..."

A tear rolls down my cheeks despite my best effort to hold it in. "Now... I'll never know," I say, my voice becoming shaky. "I'll never know if it would have sent me back. And now I'll never see Joc or Sturge or Mom or Dad or Pupa or Anneli or Augie or any of my other friends again. And I'll never get to see my beautiful red viola again. And Ashley is dead despite everything I did to try and convince Shepard to save her. Now... I have to live with with all that... I... I don't know... It's just... I... I'll miss them... And... I..."

I can't take it anymore. But I have to stay strong. I have to. For my own sake. A knot forms in my throat, and I shake my head softly.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and Tali looks at me. I can't understand her expression... What is she feeling?

"Art..." she says, voice seeping in tenderness. "I... I had no idea..." She hesitates briefly, patting my shoulder and causing her to look directly at the two glowing daimonds behind the face mask. "Art... If it makes you feel better... You can come to me... I don't care what the rest of the galaxy does... But you're my friend. I can't just let you sit here and carry this burden. If you have anything you want to tell me about this dimension that you're from... anything at all... you can come to me. Let me help you carry your burden. You can tell me anything. Art... I'm here for you if you need anything. And I promise by Keelah that I won't turn you away."

What she tells me was completely different from what I expected. It's so... beautiful... And... I didn't think she would... She should have rejected me. Turned me away. But here... She's offering me something... I... I can't believe this...

And now I can't hold the tears back. "Tali..." I say, just under my breath.

I don't get to say anything else before she gathers me into her arms slowly. I instinctively wrap my own arms around her, and as she cradles my head against her shoulder sobs wrack my body. I close my eyes, and I finally cry all the pent up tears on her shoulder noisily. She simply holds me, patting my back comfortingly as she whispers soothing things into my ear that are just soft enough for me to not be able to translate effectively.

* * *

I spent an hour with Tali. I had cried all of my tears for ten minutes, and then I told her about all of the things that changed between the universe and the game. She listened attentively, never once pushing for an answer or being angry with me. She even talked about a few of the things with me, and for that I'm grateful. It helped me do some soul-searching, and I was so happy by the time the hour ended I was nearly crying again, this time from happiness.

She wiped a few of my tears for me with a trailing hand as I admitted that it also felt wrong to not hold some kind of memorial for Ashley. She agreed with me, and then she suggested praying. I agreed to a variation of prayer, and then she helped me clean up the mess that had taken over my room before I showed myself to the rest of the crew of the Normandy.

I'm glad I'm away from the crowd now. It was a bit hectic, with everyone asking me if I had gotten over Ashley's death. I told them that I had a long heart-to-heart talk with Tali that helped me and nothing more. Tali kept her word, and she confirmed that it was nothing more. And so, I had my first meal where I didn't toss a glass at the wall in rage and sorrow.

And after that, I moved over to the spot Ash frequented when she was still alive. The display was still glowing yellow, and Tali was standing right by my side as I looked down solemnly. I thought about how Ash liked this spot, and I remember that on some days there was a photo of her sisters seen there. I didn't know she had kept that there from the game. It always helped me to put things in perspective. Sure, she was hard on everyone she met, but the photo reminded me that she was still concerned for her family as much as anyone. It sort of helped the image that she could be a nice girl, and... Well... She was hard, but she was caring. That's all I can say.

Other than that she put up with me for as long as she did without exploding, which is what I would have expected someone of her temprament to do.

I left the church when I got into high school. I haven't prayed for anything in six years. I haven't even said a single Lord's Prayer. But at the moment... I can't think of anything else. Funny how it would take a trip to another dimension and the death of someone I only knew for so long to get me back into Roman Catholicism.

But now's not the time for that. I turn to Tali, and I nod. She nods in reply, and then I look down.

I activate my omni tool, checking my musical playlist. I found out that Verdi still existed in this universe, and is still the same old Italian Opera composer we all knew him as. And he still wrote that Requiem, which is even better. It's the only way I can see that Ash's soul will come to rest. I didn't need to be told she was religious; I knew about it before I came to the Citadel. There's nothing else I can think of that would serve as a better prayer for her than one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of music ever to come out of the 19th Century.

I nod, kneeling there and then activating it.

And soon after, sublime music sounded from the omni tool's speakers. It was loud enough to be heard from where I was, and Tali seemed to hear it to as we listened to the requiem. It was the only way I could see it fit to honor Ash. She may not have liked me, but she was a good teacher, a good mentor, and not afraid to speak her mind. And... to be perfectly honest, I kind of admired that.

The Verdi Requiem is pretty long, so Tali and I are staying there for quite a while. And soon enough, we got other company as well. Wrex was the first to stop by, being the closest to Ash's workstation. He came as soon as he heard music from our direction. And instead of berating us like I expected, he stood beside us in the silent vigil. And then, ever so slowly, Shepard, Garrus, Kaidan, and Liara all joined us at the terminal that Ash used to stand in front of. They came whenever: I think Shepard came just as we got to the Kyrie, and then the rest joined sometime during the Dies Irae.

And silently, the music expressed what nobody else could. I felt a few tears trickle down my cheek, goosebumps flying up my arms as I struggled to hold my composure. The same could be said of everyone else that watched over the vigil. Even Wrex, miraculously, although he didn't actually cry like everybody else. But I saw feeling in his eyes when I turned to look. It's funny how the simplest of events can bring us together, especially in times of great sorrow. Here we all are, mourning for Ashley with a human requiem, following a denomination of Christianity that I'm pretty damn sure Ash didn't practice, but we all understand each other.

And that is kind of beautiful.

When the piece ends, I stand, nodding to the rest of them. We stand there briefly, and nothing is said. But what can we say that hasn't already been said? Ash was a good soldier. A brave fighter. A good teacher. A dear friend. A comerade. We've all said this at some point. So there's simply nothing more to say. Just, our mutual grief over the loss of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.

We all acknowledge this, and we go our separate ways in silence.

And Tali stands by me as I walk to my quarters. She nods, and I nod back.

"Well, I guess it's now my turn to start thanking you relentlessly," I say, smiling softly. "So... thank you. For everything. From the bottom of my heart."

She nods. "Again, if you want to talk about... it... you can come to me," she says, a hand on my shoulder. "Unless I die, I'll be here to listen."

I nod. "I'll see you later, Tali."

She nods. "And I as well," she replies.

She walks away, and I look at my door. I open it, and look inside at my newly cleaned room. It feels so different now. Despite the monochrome grey... it feels completely different now. I feel at peace here, instead of thinking of how not homely it is. I thought I'd never get used to this.

I was wrong.

So I walk inside, and I find that I can finally breathe a little easier for the first time since I had arrived in this galaxy.


	18. Chapter 17

____

A/N: All right! Last chapter we got Art to get better. So this chapter would be the one where he apologizes, right?

WRONG! This chapter has a surprise that I'm not expecting many people to have expected.

This chapter... is written entirely in Tali's POV. So yeah. We'll take the attention off of our author avatar for the moment and leave it with someone on the crew of the Normandy. And it's got a nice surprise there, too.

_Including more music! Yay! This corresponds to when the author avatar does stuff. You'll see. Anyway, you can hear the piece he's playing here: http :/www .youtube. com /watch ?v=yYl1u15W6AA_

_And yes, that is me playing that movement. Might give some of you a better insight into who's interacting with the rest of the crew._

_So yeah. With that... I bring you the chapter from Tali's POV!_

* * *

Chapter 17: A Day In The Limelight

I can't stop thinking about Art. Ever since we had that talk yesterday…

The poor man. He's only… nineteen? And he has to shoulder such a heavy burden. I still can't believe that what he said is true. And yet… he knew about why linking suit environments is so important to quarians. That right there shows he knows everything, exactly as he says he does. I can see why he kept that to himself.

I can't imagine what it would be like to live without connection to the fleet. I guess I am experiencing that now, but I know I will be able to return someday. I have that assurance, at least. Art doesn't have that. He only has his memories and maybe a few choice items on his part. I know either aren't enough to help him.

For that… I suddenly find new admiration in him. He knew exactly the kinds of things that would occur when the Normandy took on a mission, and yet he still willfully went with us. He's certainly much braver than he thinks he is. I admire that; even though he had been separated from his family and his friends for eternity, he was still able to move on. That takes a certain strength of character.

But he can't hold himself up forever. He already proved that when Ashley died. The poor man must have realized a lot when she died and he lived… He took Ashley's death hard enough, but combine it with being separated from everyone he ever knew for all eternity…

I will help him carry this burden, no matter what. Part of my Pilgrimage is that I have to help people any way I can. And if being his confidante is a way of helping him, I'll do it, to the end of my Pilgrimage and beyond. Besides… I've grown to like him. It hurts me just as much as it hurts him to be in the mood that he is in right now. I just wish he would show his old self again. He always used to say such fascinating things when he was in a better mood… I would really like to see it again…

I… don't really know all that much about human instruments. But I'm looking for a viola… preferably a red one. What is a viola? He hasn't really told me, except that it's some kind of string instrument. Oh, well.

I hear that there's a human instrument shop that recently set up in the Citadel. I'm sure they'll help me when I tell them I have a human friend who is looking for solace. A musician friend, washed up on the Citadel. He said it was a stimulant trip, and that he had left everything that he had on Earth… Yes, I think that could work. Just use his cover story. They'll understand.

Maybe I could find a viola and some notation software for Art to use. I don't think our little discussion will be enough to help him. Maybe if I got him something with which to make the music that he obviously loves so much… it might cheer him up. Maybe even get him in a light enough mood to start moving around the Normandy the way he normally does. They might also help me with trying to identify what exactly a viola is.

I step off the Normandy alone. I hope I can surprise Art with a musical starting kit; I think it would make him extremely happy.

My suit feels a little stiff today. Nothing a little walking around can't fix, though. And I will be doing plenty of that, as this music shop is quite a distance away from the docking bays. It will take me a very long while to get there.

And so, I enter the Citadel, looking around as I quickly moved over to the Zakera wards.

Keelah, things are extremely hard to find around here… Especially for a race that is relatively new to the Citadel. Even if Art already knew about the Citadel thanks to that… _Mass Effect_, whatever it was called… it still must have been quite a shock for him to arrive here. I imagine it must be a shock when he has to add words like 'mass relay' and 'FTL drive' and 'element zero' into his vocabulary.

I guess I should have seen it coming from his tastes. He always likes things from before that year, and rarely anything after. His tastes in music are very embedded in the past, as are his clothes and some of the things he says. I always thought his tastes were a little archaic when I first met him. Now that I know the truth of the matter, I'm not surprised.

I also remember the description of the Citadel he gave me. It is very exact, except that he also told me some areas were blocked off in-game that he found he could suddenly access in real life. This must be very strange for him to visit areas he could not visit previously. No, not just that; the entire Citadel is a place he could not visit before. I wonder how surreal he must find walking around a place he never could think of as a real place. I know that if I was suddenly transported to a fictional place, I would be very disturbed, but also find something wondrous about it.

Something tells me it won't last, though. He told me the layout of the Citadel was much less… damaged than he remembered it. I am not taking it as a good sign of the fate of this place. Even more so since he told me that his presence changed a couple of things around, including drastically changing what happened when he went with Wrex to get that armor that one time.

This must be very strange to him. He is in a place at once familiar and new. He has seen everything, and yet not at the same time. I can't begin to imagine what that feeling is like. It must be… surreal was the term he used, I think. It works pretty well to explain it. It is only in a dream that one is supposed to see things like this, and yet Art is living in this universe. He must be seeing every day as a dream.

I suppose that's one reason why he was able to avoid the angst for so long. For him, I think the novelty will never wear off.

At any rate, here I am at Paul Shar's Music Shoppe. Hm. That is certainly a strange way of saying 'shop'. Is it a strange Earth custom? Hm. This is… very intriguing. I look inside the shop before walking in tentatively.

When I step inside, I see that there is not much activity occurring around here. I see various instruments hanging on the walls of the shop, along with several shelves of electronic pads and paper. A race that still uses paper? This is certainly new. The last I knew many races had stopped making such an ancient material.

Keelah… the instruments in this shop look nothing like what I have seen on the flotilla. I rarely knew any musicians there myself, but… when I was there, I knew that most of us just hit things against something else and they would make sounds. I see some things that look like they were made for that purpose, but everything else… Keelah… It all looks amazing.

As I step in, I see a rather old man tending shop. Seeing me wander in, he turns, a soft smile on his face as a rather young man steps out.

"Hey, whaddya know?" says the younger man as he arranges something in shop. "We don't get too many aliens in here."

I look over to him as the older man gives him a shifty look. "Antoine, you know we don't bother the guests," he says simply.

The younger one shrugs. "I know," he says. "I'm just sayin'; it's always interestin' when they come around. Keeps some variety around here, ya know?" With this, he leaves the counter. "I keep tellin' ya we should start supplyin' non-human instruments. That would really help business!"

I strut over to where the old man stands as he shifts in place. "I would if the suppliers would actually acknowledge me," he replies. "I'm working on it."

I glance over to the younger man as he says something about that before tending to some instruments there. As soon as the conversation ends and the younger one is visibly distracted, I turn to the older man.

"Are you two always like this?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Not really, no," he says. "Young ones are always fascinating. I think he's got great ideas myself; only thing is, I can't do anything about it with the way galactic politics are."

Trust me, sir, my entire race knows how you feel. My people were exiled, and then turned away… It's a horrible fate for any species to endure, but on top of it all we have these suits…

"Anyway, what can I do for you?" he asks.

Oh, Keelah… "Well…" I begin, just a little nervously. "I have… a friend. He's a musician from Earth. Originally, anyway; he wound up on the Citadel after he took too many stimulants, and he's been separated from his instruments. He's been going through something of a personal crisis… so I was thinking, maybe if I got him something it would cheer him up."

But the old man had already caught on to what I was asking. "I see," he says, looking over the shop as the younger one returns to the counter.

"Earth, huh?" asks the younger one. "From what I hear, not many musicians get out o' there too often. Looks like your friend got hit with insane luck."

If only you knew how he looks at his 'luck'… "Why?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "It's tough to get a job in music down there," he says. "But it's even harder for 'em to get off that bloody rock. All the good jobs for human musicians these days are at the colonies, and there are a few very nice openin's here as well."

"Oh," I reply. "I see…"

"He should consider himself lucky that he's also got a friend willing to spend a lot of money on instruments," adds the older man. "Being a musician is expensive."

Oh? "Why is that?" I ask.

The two men look at each other briefly before turning to me. "It depends on what your friend has," he says. "Sometimes instruments can be worth amounts in the double-digit thousands. The best quality instruments are rarely sold below two thousand credits."

Oh! Wow, that is very expensive. Well, he did warn me about it, I guess. "I see…" she said. "He did tell me it would be tough to replace them…"

The younger man shrugs. "Some people get attached ta their stuff," he says. "I'll bet 'e was as attached to his instrument back home as 'e was to 'is best friend. It happens, ya know?"

I nod, looking at them. "I see," I say.

"Anyway, we're getting off track," says the older man. "What does your friend do?"

"Well…" I say. "My friend plays the viola. He also writes music. Seeing as how I don't really know what a viola is or what you're supposed to write music on…"

The younger smiles and leaves the counter. "You're in luck, then, ma'am," he says with a broad smile on his face. "We just got the latest version of the best there is in notation software shipped over to us yesterday."

Oh? Notation software? "If you'll come right this way, I can show you the notation software, downloadable onto either an omnitool or a terminal."

Hm. I don't think he'll be using his terminal anytime soon, so… omnitool it is then. I follow him to a corner of the store where I see some things with a light orange glow. He looks in there before going through the OSD's.

"Now… your friend does what kind of composition?" he asks.

Wait, there's more than one way of writing music? "I'm… not sure I get your meaning," I reply.

"What style does 'e write in?" the younger says. "Twelve tone serialism? Atonal? Neo-Romantic? Neo-Baroque? Neo-Classical? Spacialism?"

Keelah, what do any of those terms mean? "I… wouldn't know," he says. "But he is a major fan of a man named Varèse, or something like that."

His finger wags as he thinks about this. "Probably atonal, edging into twelve tone serialism then," he says, pulling out one particular OSD in the bunch. "And if my predictions are right, he might plan on doin' somethin' crazy like spatial notation."

What? "Spatial notation?" I ask.

He looks over to me as he holds the OSD in his hand. "You're not a musician, are ya?" he asks.

Has a more redundant question ever been asked? "Even if I was, I would only know how the quarians play music," I reply. "I wouldn't be able to understand how humans do it."

He is silent. I can see his eyes go over to the old man behind the counter before he walks over to me. He hands me the OSD, tilting his head to the side with a shrug. "I see," he says. "I guess a demonstration is in order. Grampa! The keys to the piano, please!"

Piano? What's a piano?

I see the old man reach under the piano and get some kind of wireless key. He throws it over to the younger, who catches it. I see him pull some paper out from the shelves—maybe that's what the music is written on— and I watch as the younger walks over to a giant black thing in the center of the room. I follow him tentatively, and watch as he presses a button on the key. He lifts something up, and I step over to the side as I see a relatively long series of white and black things on that.

"What is this?" I ask.

"This is a piano," he says, placing the sheets of paper on top of the black thing and shifting in his seat as he warms up his fingers. "This is one of our more standard instruments. It 'as every note attainable by every instrument, and… well… 'ere, just watch…"

And then he depresses one of the white things. A sound comes out of the object, and… This is fascinating.

He looks to see if I'm getting it. I look to the white and black things before nodding. "What are the white and black things?"

He chuckles softly and gestures to it. "These things are called keys," he replies. "You press 'em, and they make sound. We call instruments like these 'keyboard instruments'."

"Oh…" I say, nodding. "I think I'm starting to get it now."

"Good," he says. He then goes over to the sheets of paper he left and opens it. Huh…? What are all of those strange symbols? Is that… Oh, I guess it's what they read when they play music.

"I guess ya know what this is," he says, gesturing to the sheets. "If he talks about music, he probably talks about how ta read it."

"A little…" I say. I'm still not sure what the symbols mean, though, but that is probably for the best.

He nods. "I'm sure he'll tell ya how ta read it someday," he says. "But I'll spare 'im the trouble." Oh. Well, that is awfully nice of him. "Anyway… we usually look at this… and then when we learn to play it we translate these symbols into motions that produce notes. Let's just take… this, for example."

He points to one of the lines that is full of those symbols. The circles are filled and not filled… what is this supposed to mean? "Now… the noteheads tell us what note to play. The way they look tell us what the durations of each note is supposed to be." He points to some text I see above it all. _Trés lent sans presser ni ralentir jus'qua la fin_? What does that mean? "This, tells us what speed we have to play this at. You probably don't know French, so… that means 'very slowly, without speeding or slowing down until the end'." Oh. So it's a speed indication. I see… "We call that a tempo in musician's terms. So I'd like you to give me a pulse. Slow, and steady, and then you can follow along."

Oh, I get to set this… tempo, was it? Hm… Well, I can follow along I guess. So I think of something. All right... 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...

I begin to tap this tempo out against the piano, the shopkeeper keeping an eye on me as he watched my hand. After about twelve beats, he nods his head to the beat, bringing his hands to the keyboard. He gives me a big nod, meaning he starts the piece with… silence. But then in two of the beats I'm given, he presses down on two of the black… keys, were they? He presses down on them in rhythm according to the beat I gave him. After he goes a certain ways, I see his left hand depress more keys, and it sounds a chord that is… haunting, to say the least. As I trail along, I slowly start to get how to read this notation.

This is very different from Khelish music notation, that is for sure. And somehow, it seems to produce all the same notes and all the same frequencies. It's astounding what people can come up with, I guess. And… I'm slowly getting it. I'll never really get to read it fully, though. I'm sure Art would be more than happy to change my ignorance of human music, though.

We read to about the first page, and then he turns and nods.

"That was… very pretty," I say, unable to say much else to that.

"That's also how we read stuff," he says, closing the book of sheet music. "Once ya get that down, you can go on to the composers that do the extremely odd stuff like spatial notation. But those don't start comin' until about the 1950's in human years, and it takes really, really good players to do it right, so I doubt you'll be needin' ta look at that."

"I see," she says. "What was that… music you were just playing?"

"We refer to 'em as 'pieces', if you're lookin' for a specific term," he replies before showing me the sheet with the title on it. "_Gaspard de la Nuit._ It's a piano suite written by a Frenchman named Maurice Ravel who was active between human years 1900 and 1931, approximately. Don't know where that rests in quarian years…"

Oh. I think Art has mentioned Ravel a few times. Mostly in regards to other things not for this 'piano', though. "I've heard of him, yes," I reply.

He smiles as he places the sheets back where they were. "Enough about that, though," he says. "I've taken away a lot of 'is ground to tell ya the basics of human music. I'll let 'im explain the rest. For now… let's see to that viola he's lookin' for."

And with this, he walks over to another corner of the shop, grabbing a stool from the far end and gauging where he should put it. When he makes up his mind, he places it on the ground, stands on it, and reaches up to get a medium-sized instrument with what I assume are four strings. He carefully brings it down, and then walks over to me.

"And this, is a viola," he tells me, bringing a hand across the strings. The hand pulls on them and releases them. Keelah, the sounds these human instruments make… They seem so sweet upon a first listening… "I should let you know that the best of these tend to run for 14,000 credits, and that's not including bow and case."

"How do you play one of these things?" I ask.

"Many ways," answers the old man as he comes around with a strange stick. Is that hair on that stick? This is all very strange. "One way is to draw this thing across the strings. Another is to pull the strings and release them quickly. There are… a lot of ways to play this."

"I… I see…" I say. "Case?"

The younger shrugs. "Well, ya gotta carry this thing around somehow, right?" he asks. "So… we can help you by asking what size his other instrument was…"

"Well, I was thinking to make it as similar to his instrument on Earth as I can get it," I say. "All he tells me was that it was a pretty large viola, and that it was a kind of dark red in color."

Both of them blink tentatively, and then they look at the instruments. What did they mean by that? I look up, and see a dark red viola sitting in the middle. I suddenly feel some kind of otherworldy vibe coming from it. It looks so regal from where I'm sitting… And it looks exactly like what Art described…

"That's the one…" I mutter under my breath.

"That one?" asks the older one. "That's… one of the best instruments in the shop. It's a Nikolai Tambovsky model from 2007. It was donated to us by a great player two years ago. Nobody's ever bought it, though… it's a bit expensive for that. Runs for 17,000 credits. And that's not counting everything else."

"I'll take it." My reply is simple, very to the point. I don't care how many credits it is: the Council's funding of the ship means I can get a lot of things. Besides… it's not for me.

They both give me odd looks before looking back at the instrument in question. Their expressions are quite surprised at this, and they both look to me.

"Are ya sure?" asks the younger. "You're gonna go broke for a friend?"

Might as well tell them what I think of Art. "He is… unique," I say. "He's got a strength of character I don't see in many other places. I… admire him for it, actually. He and I are very close in many ways. And I want to see him smile more often… He is the kind of man that will help you any way he can, no matter the cost to himself. He's kind… selfless… And I want to repay a few favors he's done for me in kind."

The younger one blinks as silence takes over the shop. They look at each other, confused looks on their expressions before the younger looks back to me.

"Are ya sure he isn't your boyfriend?" he asks.

W-what? Keelah! What gave them…? "H-he is not my boyfriend!" I reply. Why would I think of him as my boyfriend, anyway? "He's not!"

The younger one chuckles at my nerves, the tense air in the shop gone. "Trust me, if he isn't your boyfriend now, he's gonna be your boyfriend eventually," he says. "Right. One Nikolai Tambovsky model viola comin' right up."

And without further ado, he stands on the stool and takes that viola down carefully. Keelah, I can still feel the blood rushing up to my cheeks as I think about what he just said. Boyfriend… I don't think so. And yet… that prospect sounds beautiful.

No. We've known each other for barely two months. It couldn't be possible… could it?

"Right," says the older one. "Now, you will have to pick out a case and a couple of bows."

"Oh… yes… of course," I say.

And then he shows me what a case and a bow is. All right… I will take this bow and this case. The entire order comes out to 22,750 credits. Wow… That is indeed very expensive. But I'm doing this for a friend, so I pay all of it. I step out of the shop feeling quite invigorated, leaving the man and his grandson there with rather broad smiles on their faces.

The younger one is quite a funny man. Antoine Shar, I think it was. He certainly left an impression. I wonder how he gets around the music world, and how his regular customers must feel. I imagine it is enough to brighten their days. If they acted in such a nice way to someone who wasn't a human (never mind a quarian)… then they must have a great reputation amongst the human clients for being as nice, if not more so.

Oh, well. He was extremely helpful nevertheless. I am sure Art will be grateful for a lot of what he did to help me know more about human music. And I am sure he will be grateful for what I'm doing for him in a way that he can't begin to describe. I wonder how he'll react when I surprise him later…

I decide now is as good a time as any to head back to the _Normandy_. And I do just that, moving through the crowd with a rather heavy case and the bag with the OSD drive.

* * *

As I went through the more heavily populated areas of the Citadel, I thought I noticed something odd on my way back to the Normandy. No… This is weird.

There is a man who set up shop in the market district who seems to have been hypnotized by something. He is standing over his table, wearing these very thick glasses with dark lenses and a strange black glove. For some reason, his hand is hovering over some kind of pack, its contents all over the rest of the table. There are a lot of papers in there, and his hand is just hovering over everything.

Hm. This is very curious. It can't hurt to take a closer look.

I step closer to the area where he has set up shop, and I look first at the man. He's human, of course, and seems rather tall for his species. He seems lost in a trance as his hand runs over the pack and the items that are around. Looking closer, I see some of that paper that I saw at the music shop, only… everything was written in with some kind of grayish material. What is that stuff? I hope it's not lethal… They're all held down by weights, of course, and then there are some papers that look like they have overly neat handwriting there. Almost too neat, now that I think about it. Still, what can I do but notice things… Some of the papers seem larger than others. Now that is interesting. Who would switch to a larger size of paper if one size seems to do everything for them?

I then look to the man and back at the papers. I'm sure he won't mind if I take a look at these papers. I lean closer, and…

Wait…

Oh, Keelah! Art's name is on some of these papers! These must be the papers he lost when he got robbed by the batarians when he first got here! They all look… a little messy. But it looks like he was writing some kind of strange music…

What music is that? It looks so incomplete?

I look over to the man, still engrossed in what he was doing. I think I should get his attention or something. If I could get this back to Art, I think it would make him so much happier.

"Um, excuse me, sir," I say.

The man continues looking on with his hand hovering over the bag. If he noticed me, he is not saying anything. I'm about to say something again when he speaks.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd say something," says the man. "It's not polite to stare, you know."

I reel back a little in shame. That is true… "I apologize for that, sir," I reply. "I just… couldn't help but wonder at what you were doing…"

"Testing out a new toy to fight crime," he says, letting his hand drop from where he was standing. "I'm hoping to join C-Sec with it. I like to call it CORI. Crime Overview and Review Item. It's technology that I developed that can sense all sorts of things. DNA, traces of blood, footprints, you got it all here."

"Oh…" I say. Keelah, that sounds strange. "What are you doing out here then?"

"Studying a bit," he says, looking over the bag. "This bag was robbed by two batarians around a little over a month and a half ago. Since then it was circulating the black market until it found its way to me. I've identified pretty much everyone in the ring from the DNA I've picked up on this bag. I've notified C-Sec, and they're off making arrests as usual."

Oh… Interesting. I don't know much about law enforcement, but that sounds like it could be really useful. "But why the strange visor and the glove?" I ask.

"It allows me to examine evidence and review it later," says the stranger. "But anyway, I'm still wondering who owned this bag in the first place. Nothing inside the bag was touched by any of the black market specialists, so the DNA of the owner is the only one who touched it."

"So it should be simple, right?" I ask. I mean, it is only DNA for one person.

The man shakes his head. "The DNA belongs to someone who isn't on any records," he replies. "I've searched extensively. Alliance. Citadel. Earth. Nowhere do I see this man. It's almost as if he just appeared here and began running around."

You are closer to the truth than you think you are. Yes, these papers definitely belong to Art. "If that's the case, I think I might know who these belong to," I say. "I have a friend who appeared on the Citadel at around that time period. He told me some items of his were stolen by batarians."

"Oh," says the man, looking to the papers. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I say. "He's only just arrived at the Citadel, and I don't think he's been documented by C-Sec yet since he's been so busy running around the galaxy. I can take this back to him if you want."

I can't read his expression behind that visor. I see his shoulders relax slightly before he nods.

"All right then," he says, gathering all the papers and placing them in the bag. "I don't know if I should trust a quarian to do it, but you seem honest enough." Oh, the xenophobic bosh'tet! "Here." And he hands me the bag with every item inside.

Oh, well, he's offering it to me. I might as well take it. I place the viola case down and take the bag gingerly. Hm… Two straps… Maybe it was meant to be carried on my back… I bring my arms out through the two straps and feel as they hit my suit lightly. Ah, yes, this is how it was intended to be carried. I pick the case back up before gesturing to him with my head.

"Thank you, sir," I say.

"Just get it back to its owner in one piece," he replies. "That thing has been puzzling me for weeks."

I nod and head into the crowd. Oh, dear… I'm a quarian carrying more items than most humans really have. I probably stick out as if I'm not in my suit right now. Keelah…

I just hope I can make it back to the Normandy without being robbed. And then getting to my quarters without being seen by Art.

Oh, well. I might as well get going. I weave through a crowd, resolving to only step through the most crowded areas I can think of to avoid being noticed by anyone other than the ones I bump into by accident.

* * *

Somehow, I did it. I went through the Citadel with a lot of stuff and made it to the Normandy without too much of a problem.

And when I get here, there seems to be some kind of a commotion. Huh? What is going on? It seems as if everyone here is in a bit of a shock about something.

Maybe Art knows what it is. I could ask him when I run into him next.

In any event, at least it'll make it easier to sneak around the Normandy. I sneak all the way back to my quarters, and then I leave the viola there by the bedside. If anybody notices, they don't ask. Good; I wouldn't want Art to find out too early.

All right… how should I do this? Okay, leave the OSD drive out of the bag, place it by the backpack… and then open the viola case and let it present itself, right? No… there is the danger of the case closing without my consent. Maybe I could take it out and leave it on the bed just in front? Hm… I don't see why not. I take the thing out and carefully lay it on the bed. What are these things made out of? From the way Antoine Shar was handling it, I think it is a very fragile material. But I've never seen anything quite like it. I lay it down, take the bow and do the same. There's an odd contraption in the case… I'll close it and let Art figure out what to do with that contraption. Okay, I'm all set.

Now to find him…

I leave my cabin, but not before pass-protecting the door. After all, I wouldn't want someone to steal anything in there. When I do this, I go around the ship. When I manage to catch sight of him, he's over in engineering where I usually stand. I don't see Engineer Adams around anywhere, so… I guess we're a bit secluded.

I approach, my steps a little nervous at the surprise I'm going to show him soon. I think he hears my steps, for as soon as I approach, he gives me a rather soft smile.

"Hey, Tali," he says. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," I reply. "I see you are doing… reasonably well after our discussion yesterday."

Art shrugs before turning to me. "Where were you?" he asks. "I was a little worried about you."

Oh, I guess he would be if I vanished off the ship for no apparent reason. "I had to take care of some things in the Citadel," I reply. I look around briefly to find that the Engineer still hasn't returned before turning back to my friend. "What happened? The Normandy was in some kind of disarray when I got here."

Art licked his lips and bit his lower lip as he shook his head. "The Normandy went into lockdown," he says.

Lockdown? As in, it remains forced to stay grounded? "What?" asks Tali. "But… why? Aren't we supposed to be stopping Saren and the geth?"

He shakes his head before leaning against one of the panels of engineering. "I'm not supposed to know the full story, but here it is," he says. "The Council thinks that the Reapers are a lie made by Saren to trick the Council into falling away from his true intentions. They especially hate on Shepard for falling into that 'trick'."

What? That is ridiculous! "But we talked to Saren's ship on Virmire!" I reply. "It specifically told us it was working for the extinction of all organic life!"

"Yeah, well, tell that to a blind pack o' dogs who are in just a little over their heads," replies Art, shaking his head. "And it's not just because of Saren, either. Just wait another two years, and _then_ take another look at the Council in relation to the Reapers. You'll _really_ wish you could slap yourself then, I tell you."

Oh, Keelah… "I am not looking forward to that," I say. "So what did the Council do about this 'trick', and why are we on lockdown?"

"All vessels are staying at the Citadel," he replies. "They're expecting Saren to make a full-fledged attack on the Citadel. And we're grounded because that opportunistic son of a bitch Udina said so. If things go according to the game, though, we get to play Grand Theft Warship to get a chance to stop Saren."

Wait, we steal a ship? And what does Grand Theft Warship refer to, anyhow? "Grand Theft Warship?" I ask.

He regards me with some surprise, and then nods. "Oh, yeah, that's right, you don't know about _Grand Theft Auto_…" he adds with a small amount of disappointment. "Basically, we steal the ship. And Anderson helps us do it."

Oh! "But wouldn't we get in trouble afterwards?" I ask. "I mean, Keelah! If someone stole a ship from the fleet, we would not hesitate to shoot the ship on sight."

Art shakes his head, shrugging. "Trust me on this, Tali," he replies. "It'll be the only reason Sovereign's plan ultimately fails if events play out right. Because Saren isn't going to attack them. Directly anyway."

"What's he planning on doing?" I ask. I don't like where this is going…

My friend simply positions himself in front of the panel, and looks behind him. Adams still isn't here, and Art seems very relieved by it. He nods, and then gives a hand gesture before speaking. "He's going to enter through the Citadel's back door," he replies. "And then he's going to unleash Sovereign on everyone. And if Sovereign succeeds in causing damage to the Citadel, it's a countdown to total doomsday for all of us."

Hold on… "The Citadel has a back door?" I ask.

"What do you think the Conduit is?" he replies. "It's a back door to the Citadel. And it's a back door in a very inopportune place, too." He looks around again before leaning towards me. "Technically, nobody's supposed to know about this next bit of information, but since you asked me to I'll tell you. Although, when we get to the Conduit, there'll be a Prothean VI there to tell the entire squad everything anyway."

"Tell me what?" I ask. I definitely do not like where this is going, but I will listen anyway.

"Well… there's something about the Citadel that nobody knows," he says. "And that is that the Citadel is actually a huge mass relay that points into deep space."

What? Keelah, out of anybody else's mouth that would come out as insanity. But from his mouth, it is simply disturbing. "W-what?"

"That's not even the juicy part," he replies. Oh, Keelah, there's more? Oh no… "The juicy part is that it's what the Reaper fleet uses to destroy all organic life. I'm pretty sure you heard from Sovereign about how all organic life is left to develop because the Reapers want it to, and then they come in and destroy everything, right?"

"Of course," I reply, my voice beginning to get overtaken by the fear. "So… Oh… Oh no…" They don't…

"Yeah," replies Art. "They enter the Citadel and destroy the heart of galactic civilization, thus crippling everybody else and making it easier for them to destroy everything. There's an extra, incredibly… graphic detail that I'll drop out right now." Oh, Keelah, I don't even like the sound of that. It is a good thing he is sparing me that. "I'll tell you what it is in two years when it becomes relevant."

I see… Wait a second. There is one detail. "Wait," says Tali. "Why do we need the Conduit?"

Art shrugs at this. "The Protheans managed to sabotage part of their scheme," I reply. "I'm sure you've heard of the Keepers, right?"

"Of course," I reply with a nod. "Why?"

"See, the Keepers are there to make sure the mass relay activates in the first place," says Art. "It's also supposed to keep people from knowing about the fact that the Citadel is a giant mass relay. Normally, the Reapers would just be able to go right into the Citadel and take it out without a problem. But then the Protheans came along and messed with the Keepers just after the Reapers started taking over everything. So the reason they need Saren is because they need someone to go through the Conduit and reactivate the relay. The Protheans bought us some time to defeat them."

Oh… Oh Keelah… "So the Protheans left clues behind…" I say. Oh, of course! It makes sense! "Shepard told me about the beacon she found on Eden Prime when Saren attacked it. It gave her visions, and those became unscrambled thanks to the Cipher… So they were trying to warn us…"

"Yeah," replies Art. "It's up to us to finish what the Protheans started. And by that, I mean gather the big-ass army to fight the Reapers with everything we have. Although, with our Council the way it is that's much easier said than done."

Well… when do we gather this army? "What about this sequel that came out before you got here?" I ask.

Art shakes his head. "That's not the one that we collect the army to deal with the Reapers," he tells me. "There was a proposed third game in the series that would close the overarching story of Commander Shepard and the Reapers. I'm pretty sure that would've been handled in that installment. As of the time that I came here, the developers hadn't even started working on it, though."

Oh Keelah. Then that means… "You don't know how this war resolves?" I ask. "So you are as clueless as I am on that count."

He shakes his head. "Unless I can find a way to return to my home dimension in two years and be able to return in a month, that's pretty much it," he says. He shakes his head as he crosses his arms. "So that leaves part 2. And you are not going to like some of the things that occur…"

"Like what?" I ask. Better to be prepared now than later… Because then I can prepare for it better.

Art shakes his head, though. "I don't think I'll tell you now," he says. "I'll tell you in a month when the entire crew of the Normandy reunites under… unhappy circumstances. You'll know the occasion almost as soon as it happens."

Oh, no… I do not like the sound of that. It must have something to do with the Normandy getting destroyed that he mentioned briefly when he confessed that he knew everything. This… this is disturbing. I know he knows I trust him, but… he must have a very good reason for holding something like this back. I have a feeling it will be terrible… but I think I will take his word for it.

"I see…" I reply. "Art, will we be able to stop Saren?"

He smiles warmly upon seeing this. "Of course, Tali," he says. "It's how it happened in the game, anyway. Shepard's a good leader. She'll save all of our asses when the time comes."

All right, this makes me feel a little better. "Thank you," I say with a smile coming to my face. It's a shame he can't see it under this suit! "Art?"

He arches his eyebrow. "Another question?" he asks.

I shake my head, chuckling softly. "No," I reply. "I… have a surprise for you."

His expression shifts, and he seems very intent on listening. "Oh?" he asks. "What sort of surprise?"

I smile. All right, he's interested. "It's why I was out in the Citadel just now," she says. "I got you something I think you'd really like to look at there…"

He eyes me, and I can sense that he's suspicious for just the briefest second. That is… troubling. Whatever happened to him back home that he would find such an offer suspicious? Oh, well. I am better off not asking, I suppose. Besides, it was only for a brief second, and when he snapped out of it, he crossed his arms in front of his person.

"Well… all right," he says. "I would ask what sort of stuff… but that's a surprise, so I won't press too much."

All right, I have his interest! "All right," I say. How do humans do this? Oh, yes. "Close your eyes and follow me. And no peeking!"

Art smiles at this, closing his eyes and holding his hand over them. He holds his hand out to me, which I take. I lead him by the hand down the corridors of the Normandy, and he's giggling slightly.

"You know, I feel like I'm seven years old again," he comments. "It's a great feeling."

Oh, Keelah. "Really?" I ask as I lead him down the hall.

"Yeah," he says. "The anticipation, the surprise… I'm looking forward to seeing what it is."

I nod, smiling behind the facemask. "I think you'll like it a lot," I say.

And with this, I continue leading him to my quarters. I can feel the excitement flow throughout my own body as I walk along the Normandy's decks. I wonder how Art will react. Will he give me some kind of a public recital or something like that? If he did… I wonder what he would play. What would his music sound like on that instrument...? What'll he think of the gesture? I'm actually excited about it all, and I pick up my pace as I lead him there.

Then, when I get to my quarters, I quickly let go of his hand. "Don't look yet!" I say, just as I see his hand drop. He quickly brings his hand back up, and I can see his eyes close behind that. On my omni-tool, I take down the pass-protection on my door. It clicks open and slides out with a satisfactory hiss. I look inside and… yes, everything is as Ieft it. I walk back to Art and take his hand again, leading him into my quarters. I position him so that he is facing the bed, and then walk away.

"You can look now," I say.

Art brings his hand down, opening his eyes. As the door hisses shut behind him, he looks down at the viola, his eyes widening in shock as he looks at everything. The instrument, the case, the OSD, the backpack. His eyes linger on the backpack briefly before he turns to me.

"Well… what do you think?" I ask.

He blinks, shock still on his features as he turns to the instrument. He picks it up gingerly, holding it in his hand as he admires it.

"Dark red… Just like the one back home…" he says, looking at the instrument. His fingers glide across the strings, producing some sounds. "C, G, D, A… It's all the same strings I had, too…" He looks to the rest of the ensemble.

"And that's my pack!" he says, his motions becoming more excited by the minute. "Tali, how the hell…?" He walks over to the backpack and opens it up. "My sketches! They're still in there!" His joy is slowly beginning to break out into the open. "I can't… How the hell…?"

His attention turns to the OSD drive just by the backpack, as he terms it. He looks to it in wonder. "And the OSD… is that…?"

"Notation software?" I ask, hoping to facilitate him along.

He's speechless as he holds the viola there. His eyes are full of shock as he registers this. He looks around, and then goes to the case. He opens it and sees the bow, and the contraption inside. He looks over to me, gently placing the viola back in there.

And then, he lunges at me, and I'm taken off guard. I feel his arms snap around me as I stumble back in surprise, and suddenly his hug is a little too powerful. I have difficulty breathing, but almost as soon as he's on me he lets go.

"Tali…" he says, looking at me. I can see the combined sense of shock and happiness in his eyes. "That… that can't have been cheap… You really shouldn't have spent all those credits… I mean… I…"

"You're my friend," I reply, placing a hand on his arm. "I figured I'd do at least this much."

He looks at me as I rub his arm comfortingly. He nods, and I can see a tear fall from his eyes. Is he…?

He takes my hand almost without my knowing it. He clasps his two hands in mine, his five fingers holding my hand gingerly, if a bit awkwardly while trying to place how to fit his five fingers into my three. It almost seems as if he's praying…

"Thank you so much, Tali," he says. "I… You've made me the happiest man in the galaxy today…"

I nod at this, and then he fidgets a little, my hand getting moved around slightly within his. "I… I wish I had a more immediate way of repaying you," he continues. "This… Thank you…"

With this, I offer him a smile. Even if he can't see it, I'm glad I was able to make him happy again. He holds my hand for a few seconds longer before he turns over to the items themselves.

"Getting the musical items must've been a bit tough," he says.

"They were nice people," I reply. "Extremely helpful and everything, even if I got a little too much information. Still, it was nice to not encounter xenophobia when I talked to someone other than a quarian."

Art shakes his head, chuckling. "Leave it to the musicians to be progressive," he mentions. "They were pretty liberal back in 2010, too."

Oh, were they? I chuckle at this. "As for your 'backpack', as you call it…" I say. "I actually picked it up from someone who was using dark glasses on the Citadel to investigate crime."

He pauses, and then his attention is on me. "Really?" he asks. "Did you catch the guy's name?"

I shake my head. "No," I reply. "Why?"

He shrugs and returns to the instrument that's there. "There's a video game back in my dimension that has a character who uses 'sunglasses'—that's what we call them—to investigate crime scenes," he replies. "The glasses were called ARI. The guy was named Norman Jayden. Did his 'r's sound a little odd to you?"

Actually, now that I think about it… "He was saying them like they weren't there…" I admit.

He smiles. "Okay…" he says. "I've run into living references of four games from my dimension while also journeying in another. What are the chances of that?"

Oh, so that is why he feels surreal about that! "Not very high, I imagine," I reply. "That is very strange indeed."

"It makes all this even more surreal," he says, taking the strange contraption and putting on the viola. He tests it by resting it on his shoulder briefly before adjusting it. Wait… is he going to… "I hope you don't mind if I play something to see how I'm doing right now…"

Oh? He's going to play something? "Oh, of course not!" I reply. "I would actually like it a lot if you would!"

He smiles at me then, and he nods. "Okay then," he says. "If you want it, you'll get it."

He takes the bow, and rests the instrument on his shoulders. Oh… that's how you're supposed to play it. I see… I watch him intently as he takes the bow and draws it across the string, his fingers dashing along the higher part of the instrument as he gets himself warmed up. He glances at the instrument before drawing the bow across his strings. He then manipulates the black things that stick out of the top of the instrument, and then I hear the sound of the strings change slightly. He groans frustratedly at this, finally securing them into place.

"Fucking pegs," he mutters under his breath. "Always making life difficult."

He then goes out lower to the instrument once the peg is secured. I see him twist something much closer to his chin, and then he draws his bow across all four of the strings.

"Right," he says.

"Tuning?" I ask.

"You have to make sure all these strings are in tune before you start," he replies. "And by that, I mean that they kind of have to sound… like they work." An awkward pause stretches between us as he ponders on this. "Uh… Never mind, I just made no sense."

I shrug, and tilt my head to the side as I step away from him. "I don't mind," she said. "So…?"

"Yeah, I'll get something right now," he says, adjusting the viola on his shoulder.

He pauses for a few seconds, tapping his foot against the ground as he thinks. I guess he's wondering what he should play right now. He ponders on this for a second, and then nods. The bow goes back on one of his strings, one of his fingers settling there.

And then he plays… Keelah, I can't even describe it. The harmonies are… really strange by human standards, but by quarian standards they are absolutely sublime. But… there's something so depressing about the piece itself. It's… like a woman wailing a funeral dirge. There is something longing in each of the notes as it hits a climax very high up on the instrument, and then the feeling of despair that slowly overtakes everything. As he plays, I suddenly see why he loves music so much, if only by his expression; it's a way for him to express himself. He's just lost contact with his family and his best friends. And now, the music gives him another way of expressing that hopeless feeling of abandonment.

At least, that is what I think, anyway.

He ends on the most desolate sound I can think of to end the piece, and then he holds the bow in the air for a brief period of time. Keelah… The silence is really powerful, so much so that I don't say anything for a few minutes after he stops.

Finally, I approach as he puts his instrument down.

"Art, that was beautiful," I say. "So… desolate…"

Art nods at this. "Definitely," he replies. "That was the last movement of the solo sonata Opus 25 no. 1. The man who wrote it went by the name of Paul Hindemith."

"It sounds like such a depressing piece," I reply.

The musician chuckles at this, his mouth forming a smirk. "Well, actually, if you can believe it, the piece isn't known for how depressing it is," he comments. "It's actually known more for the fact that the movement before is supposed to be impossible to play if you follow the composer's instructions to a T."

Oh? This is interesting. I raise an eyebrow; even if he can't see the gesture I'm sure he gets my posture. "Really?" I ask. "How impossible?"

He blinks. "Well, the tempo that's marked is way faster than what you can see on any metronome, even today I imagine," he replies. "So technically, you have to play ridiculously fast to cover a lot of ground in a very short time."

"I… I see…" I reply, looking to everything else. We're both looking at the objects on the bed, and then Art takes off the contraption and places it back in the case.

"Everything's in working order with this thing," he says as he puts the instrument away. "And… well, I guess I can start composing again, so you'll be hearing something from me soon I imagine."

He closes the case, grabs his backpack and the OSD drive, and pauses. He places the case down, and then proceeds to give me another hug. I take my own arms and wrap them around him, finding my hands coming over to where the backpack is on his back. He then gives me a nod, with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Tali," he says. "You've done more for me than anyone in this entire galaxy. I'll make it up to you somehow. This much, I promise."

And with this, he leaves my quarters. As he goes, I feel something in my chest start to rise up. Every time I see him now… I feel that admiration for him.

Could it be…?

No, don't be ridiculous, Tali. It's not that. It's not that at all… is it?

Oh, well. Hopefully the Normandy will get itself out of lockdown soon enough.

I might as well return to engineering if that is the case. I'll bet Adams came back to see that I wasn't there. I'm sure he'll understand, though. He usually is, anyhow. He's not too bad a human.

I leave my quarters and head to engineering. I suddenly notice a slight spring in my step as I go along, but ignore it and continue heading to engineering.


	19. Chapter 18

____

A/N: Okay, so after the last chapter, we have Art, now with one extra viola and notation stuffs. So yeah, things are going a bit better. Now we'll return to our regularly scheduled programming with Art.

And with that, this is the chapter in which we begin the endgame for Mass Vexations, part 1. At least I'll have one of my goals for the summer out of the way: part 1 of Mass Vexations will be finished. Thank heaven.

Oh, speaking of that, an announcement: Mass Vexations will now be a trilogy! Which means that Art's adventures will run the gamut of the Mass Effect area. So expect Mass Vexations 2 when the school year starts. As for Mass Vexations 3? That will be coming right after MV2, as I'm sure some of my ideas for part 3 will be a complete deviation from everything that Bioware has in mind for Mass Effect 3. So remember guys: this is just the beginning!

Okay, with the official announcement out of the way, I guess I better start wrapping this thing up. After I do some shameless plugging for the Mass Vexations TVTropes page.

_Yeah, I do TVTropes. And I started a page on Mass Vexations that could use a bit of editing. Here's the URL: tvtropes. org/ pmwiki/ pmwiki .php/ TroperWorks/ MassVexations_

_Check it out, feel free to edit stuff in, and have a nice day._

_So let's get started with a little bit of talking before Ilos..._

* * *

Chapter 18: Apologies and Relationships

Okay... So now I can compose again!

And I am doing just that. Wow... I guess I no longer have to worry about finishing my octet before the semester ended. That said, though... I did get a lot of it done.

So I'm busy sketching the octet. Okay... that motif went... there. Okay, I wonder what'll happen when I contrast it with the chord progression I'm using to show 'pretentiousness'... Okay. That will definitely work. All right. Put fermatas over all that, sync up the text... write up the 'Me', and cue the huge-ass fanfic excerpt in a fermata afterwards...

Okay, that should be good. I set the pencil down on the desk where the terminal was and look up. I tap my hand against the metal surface, and smile. I'm finally doing what I love again. It feels so invigorating to be writing music again. It's really helped me clear my mind a bit, even if the text I've been setting in this octet is... less than safe for the concert hall. Good thing I went through it with mom and censored out all the racial slurs and stuff. I wonder what the outcry would be if I put the AIDS back in place of 'wretched existence', though... Probably not much. Either way, if that man still existed in the Mass Effect universe, I imagine copyright issues would be moot as it's likely no longer protected by copyright... So I'd get away with it. Ha! Up thine, flamer!

I smile at this thought. I can get away with things. Hm... Well... I wonder who does and doesnt exist in the ME universe... Nah, that's a ridiculous idea. I don't have that good a memory, anyway. Oh, well. It seems fun.

I look at my sketches. As I weigh them down with my pencil, I hear the ship's intercom come on.

"All right, guys, hang on to your hats!" Oh, it's Joker! All right, we're leaving the Citadel! "We're playing Grand Theft Warship here!"

And with this, I feel the Normandy spring to life. All right. I stand up and walk out of my quarters. All right, I feel as if the Citadel is getting left behind extremely fast here. I can just imagine it like a train ride where all the buildings are futuristic. I can't actually see outside, but its the thought that counts, right?

I step outside of my cabin breifly. I can't stop thinking about Tali. She's just done so much for me these past few days... and the thing is, she didn't have to... Is she...? I think so. I guess she wants me to be happy no matter what the cost to herself. I mean... that can't have been cheap. I bought my viola back home for 5,000 dollars, and _that_ was the cheap price. I really don't know what to say to Tali about this...

I guess... her loyalty mission. Of course! I could save Tali's father when it comes time for her to be accused of... wait, no, a lot of her loyalty mission hinged on the fact that he died and left evidence. So how do I cover that? Hm...

It's something to think about for the next two years. Oh, well. I'll try to save Rael'Zorah vas Alarei, then. It's the least I can do for her...

If I want to be honest with myself, I kind of like her. As in, I really, really like her. I've been getting that feeling around her that I've always gotten with every girl I've ever had a crush on. But... I don't know... I'm afraid to tell her about my feelings. I haven't even told her that you could make your Shepard male, and that she was a romance option in ME2. Truth is, I'm kind of scared to. It's just... it's so late into the first game that we'll have to part soon. And I don't want to hurt her when she eventually has to return to the Fleet... But on the other hand, this is exactly why I've never been in a relationship. I've never gotten the balls to say 'I have feelings for you'. And that usually leads to bad things. What if she hooks up with Kal'Reegar in the two years between this game and the last game? What if...?

No... We'll be parting soon enough anyway. I can't tell her of my feelings.

But... I guess it wouldn't hurt to go over to engineering to talk about a few things before we get to Ilos. I'll make a point of that.

"All right, guys, we are officially out of Citadel Space." Ah, Joker; what's next, a parody of the elcor _Hamlet_ done with stop-motion toys? "We've set course for Ilos. E.T.A. is about five hours. All units, be ready to deploy at that time."

Oh, okay. Right. So now I have five hours to burn before we arrive at the final mission of the game. And we're all going, huh? Well, at least we'll all hear what Vigil has to say about the Reapers. And then, we'll go through the Conduit, stop Saren and the geth, kick Sovereign's ass, and start the countdown to _Mass Effect 2_.

Well, if I'm going to be here for the full ride, I might as well enjoy it. I'm sure Shepard will put Anderson in the Council seat. Because honestly, he's more competent than that son of a bitch Udina will ever be.

Right. So, five hours until showtime.

In the meantime... I have to apologize to a few people. Namely Shepard and Wrex. I guess I'll start with Wrex. Shit... I shouldn't have done what I did after Virmire. Now he probably hates my guts enough to yell at me. So... I'll have to be careful.

Oh, well. I brought it on myself. It's up to me to fix it.

With a new resolve, I head down to the hangar. I'm going to fix my friendship with Wrex.

And after that, there shall be much rejoicing.

* * *

When I see Wrex again, I see him polishing his shotgun where he usually sits. He's rubbing at the gun very frustratedly, and I can hear a low growl form in his throat as he rubs especially hard on one place. Well, he certainly looks pissed... I'll stay back for now. However long it takes for him to notice me here.

Unless it takes ten minutes for him to do so. Then I'm leaving and coming back.

Fortunately, he glances up before going back to work on his shotgun. Well... I'm going to have to start this conversation somehow...

"Hey, Wrex..." I say. Wow, my voice is weak. I guess... I'm going to have to be honest with him.

"Art." His reply is clipped, very short. He instantly goes back to polishing his shotgun, a new scowl on his face.

Damn, he really didn't take it well. Oh well. I brought it upon myself. You reap what you sew, as they say.

I let out a sigh, nodding to the krogan. "Hey..." I say. "I... I wanted to talk about what happened after Virmire... About what I said..."

"Don't want to hear it," he said briefly. "I heard enough."

He scrubs his shotgun even harder now, and I can hear his growl rise in dynamic. Yeah, he's getting frustrated. That isn't tough to tell. It's... it's my fault. But how do you catch a cloud and pin it... uh, I mean, how do I get his attention...?

Oh! I got it!

I step back, making my footsteps audible. I hold my arms out, and stop. The footsteps get his attention, and I see him look at me, eyes a little hardened.

"Headbutt me," I say.

He blinks briefly in surprise, the rubbing instantly stopping as he gives me a surprised look. He places his shotgun on the ground before standing up.

"Art, I just-"

"Go ahead," I reply, holding out my arms. "I deserve no less."

Wrex crosses his arms. Wait... he's not going to headbutt me? "Art, I don't..." He exhaled softly, looking down at the ground before bringing his attention up to me. "Look... I-"

"Wrex." The interruption is curt enough to stop him in his tracks. I let out another sigh before letting my arms down. "Look... I..." I begin. "I wasn't thinking straight when you did that. I just wanted to be left alone, and... And then I did that. And it was stupid and I... I'm sorry. I deserve all the anger you've got against me."

I bring my arms back up. "Which is why you should headbutt me," I say. "I deserve it. Besides... you think polishing your shotgun is going to work at getting all your frustration out?"

He regards me with a tentative expression. I notice his fist clench and unclench a few times before he comes over.

"I don't headbutt people I like," he replies. "That's a general rule I have. That's the only reason I'm not hitting you."

Oh, for the love of-! I shake my head. "That's the only reason?" I ask. "Trust me, Wrex. I wouldn't have held back. You shouldn't either."

He stands there for a second, giving me a rather contemplative look. His posture shifts, and all of a sudden I see that glint in his eyes. Okay, I think I did it.

The next thing I'm aware of is Wrex rushing at me. Our skulls collide, and I feel a great amount of pain as I rear back. Ow! My head! Ow... ow ow ow ow ow... Okay, that was a bad idea. That was a colossally bad idea. Ow... Just, ow... I think I might've gotten a concussion. I feel myself fall on my ass as the world swims around me for a few seconds. Wait, world, why am I using world? This is the universe! Okay... snap out of it... snap out of it... My eyes close briefly to help the dizzyness, and I hold my hand up to my head as the headache begins to throb. Okay... Where the fuck is the futuristic Tylenol when you need it?

I hear Wrex kneel down by my side, and then I feel his three fingered hand on my arm. He seems to grip my arm hard, and then I stumble a little as he helps me up.

"Oh, dear..." I say, feeling the dizziness get to me as I wobble around. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea... Ow..."

"And now you know the other reason," replies Wrex as I feel his other hand come to my other shoulder, thus stabilizing me. "Here. You should probably sit down for a few minutes."

And then I feel him lead me somewhere. I'm still keeping my eyes closed as I hold my head. Eventually, I feel myself get seated into a chair as the pain slowly starts to ebb away. I guess...

I open my eyes, and find the world is still swimming a little. Thankfully, though, it's slowing down, and I can see Wrex standing by my side as he regards me. The krogan seems to look down, crossing his arms as my vision slowly returns to normal.

"Did I ever tell you you've got a lot of balls?" he asked.

"I think you did," I replied. "You said I had a quad. Within the context of my culture, they'd say _el hombre con grandes cojones_."

Wrex regards me before shifting where he stands. "And that means...?"

"The man with big testicles," I reply, a goofy smile coming on to me despite my pain.

The krogan looks over to me before shaking his head. "That you are," he replies. "But you're also a stupid fucking human, to use your own terms."

Pff. I let out a single chuckle, my smile only getting more intense. "I guess that makes us about even, then," I reply, feeling the throb die away slowly.

He nods. "That it does."

Things are silent between the two of us before I feel the throb die out. I shift slightly in the seat as I see clearly again. I nod slowly, trying not to aggravate my head. I turn to Wrex, and we both regard each other with silence.

"So..." I begin. "Does this mean we're friends again?"

Wrex huffs, crossing his arms. "I'm still kind of mad about what you said," he replies. "But... I guess we all do stupid things sometimes. So yes, we're friends again."

I smile. Speaking of which...

"Good," I say, feeling myself return back to normal thoughts. "I'll end that part of the conversation here before you make me lose the game again."

At this, the krogan instantly tenses up for a second, his eyes widening ever so slightly. And then, he just shakes his head, chuckling softly.

"And here I was about to make you lose it," he replies.

I laugh and roll my eyes. Well, it's good to know my friendship with Wrex wasn't totally unsaveable. That much makes me feel really good about myself. And so, I sit in the chair for a few more minutes, and we continue cracking jokes at each other's expenses. We slowly mend the wounds that I caused, and as time goes on, I feel better about myself.

He isn't a bad person, really. Maybe someday I'll tell him about who I really am. But not today. I'm content with Tali being the only one who knows about my secret. Wrex and I get along well enough without all that. But still, it's something to keep in mind. Although possibly less so when he goes back to Tuchanka to take control of clan Urdnot and unite the krogan under one banner. But still, I think he'd like to know someday.

I keep that thought in the back of my mind. My headache goes away as Wrex and I trade banter in the hangar, and I'm feeling good about my friendships on the _Normandy_ again.

* * *

I wander the ship again, coming around to the med bay. I see Kaidan pacing around. Hm... He looks like he's contemplating something. He notices me standing there, and then briefly pauses as he regards me.

"Hey, Kaidan," I say.

"Hey, Art," he says with a nod. "I've been... thinking a little bit. About you."

Oh, dear, is this more with his suspicions? I don't like this one bit. "Oh?" I ask, crossing my arms. "What about?"

"You know... I did some searching around Earth records for people with your name," he comments. "I... wasn't all too successful."

"I can imagine," I reply. "********* isn't a terribly common last name back home."

"Definitely not, but..." he says. "I had found many people with your name... but none of them were your age or anything."

I raise my eyebrows at this. "Okay..." I say. "And you're worried about this because...?"

"It confirms my suspicions," he says, with a soft smile. "You're not really who you say you are."

"So then what conclusions come to mind?" I ask him. I think I've go this one in the bag. "And with your conclusions what do you plan on doing?"

"My conclusion is... that you're not really from anywhere in this galaxy," he says. Well, Kaidan, you're not too far off the mark. "Also, I don't think you got the warning from a dream... Am I right on this...?"

I shrug. "Well..." Do I, or do I not? If I confirm his suspicion... then what'll he do? On the other hand, if I don't tell he'll keep trying to coerce an answer out of me. What do I do...?

Ah, fuck it. "You're not too far from the truth," I reply. "But I don't want to tell you what that truth is just yet."

"Why?" asks the lieutenant.

I chuckle softly. "You wouldn't believe me if I did," I reply. "Seriously, you wouldn't. Tali didn't believe me at first when I told her, so I doubt you will either."

He looks at me with a puzzled expression. I hope I didn't blow it... Finally, he shrugs. "Well, all right," he says. "I probably don't have a right to pry, anyway."

"Why did you ask?" I ask. "Want to expose me?"

Kaidan shakes his head. "I don't think it's worth exposing you, if that's what you mean," he said, giving me a reassuring gesture. Oh, dear, I think I offended him... Oops... "You didn't tell us your real origins story. So what? Your motives here have been pretty pure. I can trust that. Whether or not you really are from Earth, it doesn't really matter; as I said after Virmire, you've only got our best interests in mind. When that's true, I'm pretty sure that everything else isn't all that important."

I nod. "I see..." I reply. "I'm glad that you trust me even if you don't like my... dishonesty..."

The lieutenant nods. "I'm glad I have yours," he says.

Things are silent between us for a few seconds. I fidget around. I'm glad we can trust each other, even with the fact that I haven't been completely honest with him. This... is a bit of a relief. Even if things are a bit oddly silent.

I turn to Kaidan and gesture to the hall. "What were you doing here, anyway?" I ask.

Kaidan stiffens a little, getting nervous as he eyes me. "Well... I want to go over to Shepard's quarters..." he says.

I raise my eyebrows. "One last night with her before we jump into the end?" I ask.

He nods. "Yes," he replies. "But... I don't know if it's a good idea... I mean... I don't really know how she feels about me. We were talking in the Normandy's airlock when it went into lockdown. I swear she wanted to kiss me... but then Joker came in... And I don't know, Art. I really don't..."

Oh. It looks like the almost kiss that occurred in the game didn't happen here. Hm... Well, what can I tell him? I could tell him to leave her alone, but that would break Shepard's heart. But then he's going to break it anyway a few years from now on Horizon so... Oh, who am I kidding? I promised myself I wouldn't get in their way. So... You know what? I said to myself earlier that who the fuck was I to deny their happiness as a couple? I guess I can go against my Thane/Shepard leanings for the time being.

"Kaidan..." I reply, my voice reassuring. "Before we stepped off on Virmire... I ran into Shepard in the rec room. We talked a bit about my feeling, and then that got to the point where she told me that she really cared about you. Not just as a commander, either. She told me losing you on Virmire would've been hard for her as a person as well as a commander."

At this, Kaidan's expression brightens the slightest bit. "She did?" he asks.

"Yeah," I reply with a nod. "Shepard cares about you a lot, Kaidan. You should go to her quarters, if only to let her know you feel the same way before we plunge into our possible doom."

The lieutenant gives me a soft look before he nods. "You know? You're right," he says. "I... I've been feeling strongly towards her. I... I just want her to know how I feel before we plunge into the unknown..."

"Then go to her," I reply with a smile. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

He nods. "All right," he says. "Thanks, Art. And you take care of yourself. We've got a long day ahead of us."

I regard him with a tilt of my head as I smile. He then walks over to the captain's quarters, a new determination in his step.

Okay, so Kaidan and Shepard will sleep together then after all. Fun times abound with that. I... Should I have facilitated that relationship, only for Kaidan to break her heart two years from now? Or... Wait, it works with Kaidan too, because he gets his heart broken. Twice; first she dies, and then she comes back as a Cerberus agent. He won't take that well at all, much like Shepard won't take his rejection too well. I... Have I set them both up for unhappiness?

... Does it matter? I can't deny them their happiness. If they end up breaking up for good after Horizon to find their happiness with someone else... I don't know. This is all a bit complicated.

I guess I'll know how I feel about having brought them together two years from now when Kaidan and Shepard run into each other on Horizon. In the meantime... I think I better find the other crew members.

I want to talk to some other peple before we reach Ilos. Because we have lots of interesting conversations waiting to happen.

* * *

When I see Garrus and Liara, they've invited both Tali and Wrex over to the rec room. I see Liara setting something up, and then I walk over. Garrus and Liara both notice my arrival, and I can see the turian's posture stiffen a little.

"Hey, guys," I say. "What's going on?"

Tali turns to me, her visor bright against the light. "We're getting one last vid night in," she said. "We figured, why not?"

Oh, a final vid night? This should be good. "I see," I say.

"I only just got here," says Wrex. "We were going to find you, but... well, here you are."

I nod at this. "Indeed," I reply. "Good to know I wasn't getting omitted from the party."

"We will invite Kaidan and Shepard here, as well," says Liara innocently as Garrus sets up the vid.

Oh, dear... Uh... "Well... I don't exactly think that's the best idea..." I reply. Oh, dear... I wring my hands together, my fingers interlocking eventually as I glance to the side and a nervous expression takes on my face.

All is silent, and then they all turn to me. "Let me guess," says Wrex. "They're getting it on in the captain's quarters?"

I glance to the side. Jeez, I swear I'm blushing right about now. And my hands are only wringing faster... "Uh... maybe?" I offer weakly.

I see Wrex's eyes take on a more mischievous glint as he glances to Garrus. Liara and Tali both shy away. Oh, dear. I place my hands on my hips as the krogan smirks, causing the C-Sec officer to sag his shoulders. Oh, don't tell me.

"Ha!" shouts Wrex. "I knew it! You owe me two thousand credits, Garrus!"

The turian simply grumbled, mumbling something about krogans knowing more than they let on before lighting up his omni-tool and giving Wrex credits. Wait...

"You guys had a betting pool didn't you?"

Garrus sighs at this, shaking his head. "Art, I _really_ like my CSec wage."

I blink, glancing over to where I think the captain's quarters will be before shaking my head. "I'm not sure I ever will," I say. "Aaaaanyway... Now that we're all on the same page, what are we watching?"

"We're watching a human vid..." says Tali. "We thought you might like it."

"Dunno if Wrex will, though," adds Garrus. "'Music is for weaklings', I guess?"

Wrex shakes his head. "If Art is any indication, I doubt it," he replies.

Garrus' shoulders slumped again. He's about to comment again when I shake my head. "Garrus, he's at least 1,300 years older than you likely ever will be," I tell him. "Let it rest."

The turian grumbles before sitting down on the couch. Liara sees this and turns over to me.

"In any event, I am sure we will all enjoy it. It's a little something called _The Sound of Music_," she said. "It's about-"

"-the von Trapp family," I finish for her. Holy shit! "It's based off the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and it stars Julie Andrews and Chistopher Plummer as Maria and Captain von Trapp!"

Holy shit! Oh my fucking god! This is-! All eyes are on my as my expression becomes incomparably happy. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, this is awesome! "Are you kidding me?" I ask. "I fuckin' _love_ that vid! I watched it all the time when I was a kid! And I still do!" I then adopt a showman pose before jumping up and down and singing, "_Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things!_"

Wrex blinks as the others give me an odd expression. "Keelah, you really do like that vid," comments Tali. "I wonder how I will like it."

"It's got great tunes," I reply, walking over to the couch. I sit down next to Tali as Liara begins the configuration on the omni-tool going. "I'm sure we'll all be singing along by the time things end."

"We know you will," comments Garrus. "That much is for sure."

I shrug, and Liara takes a place by me on the couch. She presses a few more things on her omni-tool and then the movie starts with the always long overture.

And when I see the classic shot of Julie Andrews running on the field to deliver the opening number, I almost felt like I was back in Pupa's house, surrounded by good company watching a great movie. I feel at peace, and as we watch the vid I look back on my life and think of it.

Except now, I'm happier. I have friends here that care about me. I'm in a comfortable place. And best of all, I know what it is.

And with that knowledge, I could have danced all night.

* * *

I must not have realized it, but almost as soon as the ending reached its credits, I fell asleep. I don't remember what I fell asleep on, only that I felt no movement on my person when I woke up. I open my eyes groggily, feeling the heavy fog of sleep lifting off of me.

Okay... We're still there, the holo stopped playing, and we all fell asleep. I look to everyone. Garrus seems peaceful, a more tranquil expression on his face as his mandibles click against his teeth in a kind of snoring gesture. I then look to Wrex... wow, I didn't know krogan could snore so loudly. Also that he could look so comfortable sleeping in a chair like this. I then look over to Liara, who is also sleeping peacefully, her expression serene. Which leaves Tali...

Wait... I can't see her anywhere... Oh, no... Did she leave...?

Wait... why do I feel like there's some kind of pressure on my shoulder? Why does that pressure feel so... light? And good?

I dart my eyes to the side, my head shifting slighty as-

... Oh my god. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, this isn't...

I'm leaning back on the couch, like I would in an airplane. My head was lolling to my right, but now that it's not... Oh, dear, this is unbelievable... I see Tali... And she's leaning against my left shoulder! Holy shit! She's sleeping on me! This is insanity! This is ridiculous! This is... kind of cute actually. But still! Does she even...

No... this means she feels something for me too... Oh, damn it, what the hell do I do? This is the first time I've ever had someone get some kind of more special attachment to me. I... Maybe it's because I told her and nobody else the truth? I wonder how she feels about that... Maybe that's all this is. She's admiring me for being able to last so long here for some reason. Yeah, that's gotta be all it is. Is it?

I look around, seeing Wrex there. Oh, man, I'm going to be teased endlessly about this by him, aren't I? Oh, well. I don't really think I should expound on my feelings for Tali anyway. We're just so close to drifting apart... and I don't think we can make a long-distance relationship work. Forget the whole suit thing for a second; I've never had a relationship with a girl who lived close to me. I don't think I'd be able to maintain a relationship with a girl who is forced to travel the galaxy because some stupid councillors said so. But... it's something to keep in mind when Mass Effect 2 comes around.

So... I'll keep it in the back of my mind. For now... I actually kind of like this feeling.

I feel Tali stir underneath me, and then I look down at her. Her facemask moves around, and then we're looking at each other.

And from there... neither of us know what to do. I shift slightly, unable to say something. Somehow, I get the impression that Tali doesn't know where to begin either. So I roll my eyes to the side before looking down to her.

Fuck it.

"Looks like we're all a bit tired here, eh?" I ask. Right, don't mention my shoulder...

"Good thing we got rest when we did," she says sleepily. "Speaking of the mission..."

"You want to know what happens when anyone else can wake up like that?" I whisper. "I don't know, Tali..."

"I just want to know how it ends..." she says.

I nod at this. Well, I guess we can't really do that much. "Well... I guess I better tell you about how the game treats Shepard, first, because that changes many things."

The quarian shifts slightly. "Oh?" she asks. "How so?"

"Well... no matter what happens, we'll stop Saren and save the galaxy," I reply. "But see, the thing you have to understand about Shepard is that when I was in control of Shepard, you had choices you needed to make during and after the mission that would affect things. A lot."

I feel her shift slightly again. Okay, good, the others haven't woken up. "Why?" she asks.

"Well, mostly to suit the style of the player," I reply. "Like, Shepard herself." I feel rather than see the confusion in her body language. "Or... himself. You could make Shepard either male or female."

"Oh," she says. "I... I see... That changed a few things?"

"Romantic subplots, yes," I reply. "You can actually romance Ash if you're male."

Tali seems to pout at this. "No fair," she says. "I wonder if I was a romance option..."

Oh dear... how to explain this to her, how to explain his to her... "Well... you... didn't get your turn to woo a male Shepard until the sequel," I reply. "And then you got your own romance scene, where Bioware refused to show us players what you look like under that mask. I'm telling you, the writers are sadistic like that..."

"Oh," she says, brooding on this. "So... I was a romance option, but you didn't get to see my face?"

"It's called the unreveal, Tali," I reply. "Anyway, we need to get back on topic. At the end of the game the player has to make a choice on the Council. See, the council gets evacuated... but when Saren goes through the Conduit Sovereign attempts to attack the Citadel."

Tali flinches at this. "No..." she says.

"We'll stop them, don't worry," I reassure her. "But the thing is, Sovereign starts attacking the ship that is evacuating the Council. So... Shepard gets to make a call to the Alliance on whether to save the Council or to ignore them."

"But the Council is what holds us all together," says Tali. "I don't pretend to like them, but what if they die?"

"Well, if they die you can either instill a human-led council or an all-human council," I reply. "Either way, I didn't go around doing that unless I was playing as a jerkass. I think Shepard'll save them, though."

Tali nods. "How do you know?" she asks.

"Well, let's see," I reply. "She went after me on Virmire to save the salarians, she let the rachni go free, she saved as many colonists as she could on Feros, and she didn't punch Khalisa bin-Sinan al-Jilani." I take a breath there, licking my lips. "Those tend to be trademarks of what is labeled a 'Paragon' Shepard. And Paragon Shepards typically save the Council, no matter how blind they are..."

"But they won't see the truth about the Reapers, if what you've said is any indication," she replies.

"Yeah, but the all-human and human-led Councils are the same way, apparently," I reply. "And trust me, I know that if she were a Renegade Shepard, she would've put the mission first, killed all the colonists, killed the rachni, and punched the annoying reporter who really deserves it." I chuckle dryly.

"I see..." she says. "So there are a lot of moral choices to make? How did they make the sequel then?"

I shake my head. Oh, great... Here we go... "Well... Shepard doesn't answer to the Council in the sequel," I reply.

I feel Tali jerk against me slightly as she slowly sits back up. "She doesn't?" asks the quarian, nervously. "Why?"

"Long story," I say, shaking my head. "I think it's best not to tell you everything... But events happen where she eventually answers to Cerberus."

"Cerberus?" she asks. "You mean the branch of the Alliance that is having a fallout with all the rest of us? Why would she ever answer to them?"

I glance around nervously, making sure the others are awake. I turn to her slightly, moving slowly so as not to disturb Liara on the same couch. "It's complicated," I say, glancing around and leaning in closer.

Oh, dear... I just remembered that the quarians will hate Cerberus for the attack on the Fleet... And it's all in the tie-in novel... The one that I had to read to get the reasons why the quarians are so distrustful of Cerberus... I didn't get to finish it, but I got in far enough to know the major events and that the fleet would be attacked. I still don't know the outcome, but hey... I should warn her...

"Speaking of Ceberus, there's something I have to warn you about," I continue. "It's something that'll affect the Fleet."

At this, she perks her head to the side. "What?" she asks. "What is it?"

"In a very short period of time, Cerberus will attack the fleet," I reply.

"What?" she asks, her voice elevated slightly.

I jolt, looking around nervously as I lean in very close to Tali. "Sh!" I warn her, pointing to the others. "You want to explain to them what really happened at the worst possible time?"

I can see the fear in her expression as she whips her head around. It's a good thing they're all sleeping by this point, but I'm going to have to be quick. When she looks around, she sees my point and nods grimly.

"I'm sorry," she says. "It's just... why would they attack the fleet?"

"Long story short, there'll be a man that talks to Cerberus," I say. "Golo is his name. He's exiled and all that. Anyway, he'll try to provide access codes to Cerberus and stuff, because Cerberus is interested in the geth. Or something. I don't really remember what it was. But they'll attack the Idenna thanks to access codes that Golo will eventually reveal from another ship."

I see the lights of Tali's eyes go out behind the visor for a split second. "What?" she asks. "We can't just use resources to find and kill an exiled quarian! Besides-!"

I shake my head. "The attack needs to happen anyway," I reply. "Otherwise, the Admiralty board won't get the extra push to find a homeworld. I'm not saying it can be prevented, because I don't think it can without significantly altering events. I'm trying to keep casualties to a minimum, though..."

Tali shakes her head. "Don't you want to see more quarians survive?" she asks me. "You want to let some die so you can read the future? What kind of selfish aim is that?"

Oh, dear, things are about to get sticky... I can get myself out of this one, though. "Trust me, it's more than just my ability to tell the future; it also completely changes things for the quarian people," I say. "Within 90 years, the quarians won't be able to sustain themselves on the Fleet. You can't be on those ships forever, Tali. But the Admirals and the Conclave think they can find a way to do so. That's why this attack needs to happen. The best way to put people on alert is to attack the place they feel safest at; their home. And that will shock the Admirals to take action. It has to happen, or 90 years from now your entire species is going to be caught up in the middle of a huge crisis. A few quarians in the short term, or the entire fleet in the long term? It's your choice."

The machinist contemplates this for a brief second, bringing her hand over to her visor. After thinking for a little, she nods. "I won't pretend I like this, but you do have a point," she says. "I... I guess I'll have to let it happen. Your warning can help us save some people, though."

I nod, gesturing with my arms. "I wouldn't have told you for any other reason," I reply.

She nods at this. "Then when do I know that the attack is going to happen?" she asks.

I nod. "There'll be a quarian on his Pilgrimage who'll return to the Idenna," I reply. "His name is Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya, or something like that. He'll be bringing with him three humans. Their names are Kahlee Sanders, Hendel Mitra, and Gillian Grayson. Their ship will be in quarantine, and the humans will be forced to stay inside. Now, if I remember correctly your father is one of the admirals, right?"

"That's correct," she says. "Why?"

I nod. "When the Admiralty Board asks to see Kahlee Sanders, you have to tell your father to increase defenses around the Idenna as a precautionary measure," I reply. "Fast. Gillian's father is a Cerberus operative, and he'll be leading the attack on the Idenna along with Golo. If the Idenna isn't well-armed before all three humans are told to meet with the captain of the Idenna, there will be a huge problem. Space support, security around the airlocks, whatever you do..." I take in a deep breath. "Know that the operatives will storm the Cyniad and try to take on the Fleet with that. Try to pick up communications from the Cyniad if you have to. Be careful: the operatives will wear your exosuits; I think they might try to trick their way in."

Tali regards me with a gesture of her hand. "I don't know if my father has that much power," she says. "But, I will try to alert him. I... thank you for the warning. I may not like this, but I'm glad you'll at least tell me when to look out for the Fleet."

I smile as I look to the others. I see Wrex stir slightly. "You're welcome," I whisper. "Just heed it. And Wrex is waking up, so we should stop talking about this."

And then the krogan lets out a really big yawn, and we sit there as Liara stirs behind me. I see Garrus' mandibles slowly click against his teeth a final time before his fingers begin to move, and so I look around.

"Well, I guess we all got a bit of sleep, eh?" I ask.

"That we did," says a rather groggy Garrus. "Coudn't have woken up at a better time. Have we gotten to Ilos yet?"

"I imagine we are close enough," replies Liara. "We should likely suit up while we still have the chance.

I look around as everybody wakes up and nod. "Okay, that doesn't sound so bad," I reply.

"All right then," says Wrex. "We suit up and we kick some ass. That's something I can get behind."

"Hear, hear," I say, raising my hand. "Now let's go!"

And with this, we go our separate ways to suit up. I head back to my quarters, Tali heads back to engineering, Wrex heads back to the hangar, Liara heads to the medbay, and Garrus heads to the Mako.

Right. With that out of the way, let's suit up. And take a few deep breaths. Because this is the final mission. And I will need to be prepared for whatever comes next. Not to the extent that I had to be prepared for Virmire, but still...

There's the matter of the two years between this and the next game. What am I going to do then? Hm... Perhaps I can get a job somewhere doing what I love. Opera orchestra? Maybe. I've seen from my extranet services that the local human opera company does operas throughout the entire year, only taking a break in the winter for some reason. Yeah, I could probably do that. I just have to hope I'm good enough...

But first, I need to help kick Saren's ass.

After a period of time, I'm in my suit. I look around the room, wondering if I'm forgetting something. I think I'm set, but... Oh, wait!

I rush over to the desk and rummage through the drawers. Okay, there's the paperweight. All right. I guess I should take this with me on the Conduit. I don't know why, but something in the back of my head is telling me I'll greatly regret it if I don't.

I stash it somewhere safe within the armor, and look around the room. Let's do this!

I run over to the bridge, knowing that Shepard will be there to look down on Ilos.


	20. Chapter 19

________

___________A/N: All right. It's time for the final battle! To your stations, everyone!_

Okay, so this is the Ilos chapter...

...before I get to it, some shameless advertising. One of the readers of Mass Vexations recently started his own self-insert story in the Mass Effect universe where he gets plopped two years before the start of the game. One stint with CSec later, and you can probably guess what happens. If you have any extra time, then I suggest you check out Masses to Masses by iNf3ctioNZ. It's a pretty fun read.

So yeah, after that bit of shameless advertising... I think it's time we got this show on the road. So from here on out, there is no turning back.

Move out!

* * *

Chapter 19: Ilos

The entire squad had gathered at the bridge. I see Kaidan there with a big smile on his face as I walk over there. I look to him, and then he winks with a happy twinkle in his eyes. So time in Shepard's quarters went well, I see... I guess that'll put my self-doubt at ease for now. Shepard joins us soon after, and then we're all looking there. Wow, I think this is the first time I've ever been in the same body space as Joker. This is troubling. Or hilarious. I can't decide which one it is.

No time to think about that. This is the final mission.

Well... I guess I can afford some fawning onto the planet itself. It looks like Mars from here... And it's so majestic. It's hard to believe this is the place where shit will really go down in a couple of minutes. But from here, it just looks so pretty... it's too bad the surface is a different story entirely. Just like Mars...

Huh, Mars. Oddly enough, that's where the tale of humans on the Citadel began. Fitting how the first part of Shepard's tale will start to end on a red mass that's kind of like it. And it still looks majestic.

Right. Time to focus on the mission.

"Uh, Commander?" asks Joker. "We've got company."

"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" asks Kaidan.

"Stealth systems are engaged," replies the helmsman. "Unless we get close enough for a visual they won't have any idea we're here."

"That's always a good thing, I guess," I point out. "What's going on down there, though?"

I hear someone say something behind me. Oh, heyo there Pressley! I almost didn't hear you there. When he finishes, I hear Shepard give the order to take the Normandy over to the coordinates in question.

"Negative on that, Commander," says Pressley. "The nearest landing zone is two clicks away."

Garrus shakes his head at this. "We won't make it there in time on foot," he says. "We need to get closer."

"There is nowhere closer!" says the XO. "I looked!"

Not hard enough, apparently. But hey, what can you do? Shepard gives Pressley a look before peering out were the Normandy can see onto Ilos.

"Drop us in the Mako," commands Shepard.

The XO gives us all a look of worry. "The Mako needs at least 100 meters of open terrain to make a drop like that," he continues. "The most I can find near Saren is twenty."

Yep, that is definitely a small space if I've ever heard of it. That... doesn't seem entirely possible.

"Twenty meters?" asks Tali. "How will we make a drop like that?"

"We'll have to try," I reply, looking out. "Time's of the essence here."

"Find another landing zone!" barks out Kaidan.

"There is no other landing zone!" say the XO back.

I shake my head. "Oh, Jesus Christ on a pikestaff," I reply. "Look, it's the only thing we have to work with."

"I agree with the Serviceman," says Liara. "It's our only option."

But not many of us are convinced. "It's not an option, it's a suicide run," comments Garrus. "We don't-"

"I can do it."

Ah, thank you Joker. This is the moment I've been waiting for. The cripple gets us all onto Ilos alive. I mean, come on, he's Jeff Moreau! If he says he can do it, he can do it. He takes back the Normandy SR-2 from the Collectors in ME2, he can do this.

"Joker?" asks Shepard.

"I can do it," reiterates the helmsman with stony certainty.

I look to the Commander as the entire squad stands there.

"Right," she says, turning to all of us. "Is everybody geared up?"

I see nods go around all of us. "Everyone's accounted for, Shepard," I reply.

"Good," she says. "I want you all in the Mako."

Wait, all of us? As in, the entire squad? All seven of us? So... we all go down there together?

"All of us Commander?" asks Wrex, mirroring my thoughts.

"Yes, all of us," she reiterates.

We all look to each other and shrug. Well, an order's an order, and we better follow it because we're racing against time here.

But for me, this is entirely unexpected. I expected her to pick her four most trusted. Mainly Kaidan, Tali, Liara, and Garrus, I would think. But no, Wrex and I also get to tag along. This... somehow makes this mission feel more epic than it did in the game. I mean, we're all going to try and stop Saren. We're all going down there. I'm certainly glad I built up our friendships; we could really use it. We've come so far as the crew of the SSV Normandy; here's the part where all that pays off. We win or lose it all in the next few minutes, and I'll be damned if we lose it all.

"Right," I say. "You heard the lady."

Eh... I might as well get a corny TV refrence out of the way. Okay, here goes...

"To the Batmobile!"

I get a bunch of confused glances as Joker snickers behind me. We don't get much time, though, for then I find myself running towards the elevators to the hangar. I look to the others as they come up behind me, and then we're all going straight for the Mako, making last-minute checks on our suits as we do so.

* * *

Damn, the Mako is crowded. I'm sitting in my usual spot with Tali sitting across from me. Wrex and Garrus are sitting behind the restraints, with the krogan holding onto Liara to make sure she isn't flying around everywhere. Kaidan and Shepard are both in the cockpit, so to speak. We sure filed in here fast. And then, we begin to feel the Mako fall.

Right, we're making the landing in three... two... one...

And the Mako comes to a stop. All right, landing accomplished. I glance to Garrus with a soft smirk as our restraints come undone.

"And you called that a suicide run," I said.

He blinks before the hatch opens. Right. We've come to that barricade that'll give us huge problems. I step out, assault rifle at the ready. My cloth is on, thankfully, and I look at the doors as Tali steps out behind me. Shepard and Kaidan come out, and we're all looking at the barricade.

"Well, we won't get too far," I say.

"Not with that door blocking it," says Kaidan. "How do we get in...?"

"There has to be a security protocol somewhere," says Tali. "Maybe I could hack it and get this door open..."

Wrex, Garrus, and Liara have all come to the other side of the Mako as Tali suggests this. I tilt my head to the quarian, and we're all nodding.

"Of course," says Shepard. "Everyone, follow me. We're going to find that security protocol. And we need to be fast if we're going to find the Conduit before Saren does."

"Then let's go," says Garrus.

With this, we all nod, and then we all look behind the Mako. We all agree that the opening there is likely where we need to go, and so we look to each other. A brief nod is the only communication before we rush into the opening.

As we go in... yes, there are geth coming to greet us. All right, we know what to do. I rush behind cover, Garrus coming by my side as the others scatter around. Coming out, I shoot at a geth with my assault rifle, the shields going down. Wrex rushes in and fires his shotgun at the robot that I've taken the shields of. He then rushes at another that Garrus helped take down as I come out of cover. I see another geth that Liara is launching a singularity at. As its shields go down, I fire my assault rifle at it, diving behind cover as it goes down.

Okay, so if my calculations are correct there will be quite the welcome party around here as we make our way to the securiy outpost. I reload as I see Kaidan, Shepard, and Garrus all rush out of cover to advance forward. Okay, this is getting pretty sticky pretty fast. I better do a double team.

I grab out my brand-spanking new pistol, giving it a once over. It was a little more powerful than the model I left on Virmire, but it'll do wonders. Won't we?

Anyway, I look out and see- well, what do you know? A lot of geth. I see Tali switch to her shotgun, and then a geth advances towards us. I peer out of cover and fire my pistol at the geth, its shields going down. As Tali comes around with her shotgun, I see Shepard rush forward. As Tali decimates the geth with her shotgun, I see Shepard lift another geth up off the ground. As it levitates up and I see assault rifle fire come at it, I give it one look before firing a very well-placed pistol shot into its head.

Okay... we're... not making much progress now. But we kind of are, as one of us is always rushing ahead. Okay... geth, geth... Oh, there's one! I shoot at it with my assault rifle. All right, and its shields are going down. This is enough for a singularity from what looks like Kaidan to finish it off, the blue glow emanating off of the geth as it stays still before falling apart. I look just to my right and see another geth rushing at us... with a rocket launcher!

Oh, Christ. I duck behind cover just as it fires a rocket at me. I sit there, and hear the collision of the rocket with the cover I'm behind, and the explosion knocks some dirt over me. Okay, just stay still and you should be all right... Okay...

I peer out of cover and see that Wrex has come in and whacked it with the butt of his shotgun. As I see him cock it and fire it, I look over. Seeing the coast mostly clear, I make a break for another piece of cover. As I do, I notice my shields taking a slight hit, such that they're almost depleted by the time I dive behind cover. I look out and see that there was a rather large geth standing there. Right... I should take it out.

I see Garrus out of the corner of my eye, and apparently he has the same idea I do as he fires at it with his assault rifle. I come out with my own, and almost as soon as its shields are down I pepper it with assault rifle fire. It's not enough to take the geth down, but by this time Garrus has had time to fire his rifle at it a few more times. It goes down pretty quickly as my eyes quickly scan the area. I see Liara running over there, and she's biotically lifting several geth in the air. Wrex is already busy with one as is Tali... so that means I get number three. And it's mostly clear, so I can run to other cover.

I grab my assault rifle, and prepare myself to run. All right... three, two, one, go!

And I rush out, holding the gun out at the floating geth. I shoot at it as I run. Okay, hold it like that... okay, that's good... I look up as its shields deplete. I take my handgun and fire several shots into the geth in question as then Kaidan comes in and fires at it once. The geth goes down in a heap against the ground as I settle into cover. I reload both of my guns and look over cover to see some more geth.

Okay, that's enough dual wielding... I put my pistol and assault rifle away. Okay... I think we're coming to that one area where the sniper rifle could come in handy... Yeah, I brought the sniper rifle with me this time instead of my trusty shotgun. Ah, well. No harm done, really.

I take the rifle and make sure the scope is aligned properly. When I see that it is, I rush out of cover, making sure to stay behind it as I look around me. Okay, it's a good thing this isn't an FPS. Because if it was, I'd always be looking through the scope. It was why I was such a terrible person with any recon units that were there. The scope always fuckin' killed me! I rush in, and as chaos billows around me I peer through the scope onto a higher walkway. Okay, I see geth there. Time to take them down!

I steady my hand... Okay, inner peace... Inner peace, Art, inner peace... Okay, and fire!

I pull the trigger, the recoil quite impressive as I let off a shot. The shot hits one of the geth there. Okay, it could take a few more hits to its shields. I fire a couple more times, the rifle fire taking it down as it runs across.

Okay, time to reload. I give a quick glance at the rest of the squad, which is now rushing forward. Tali is preparing her omni-tool for some hacking, and as they run forward I come up behind them. I'm sprinting towards them, coming up behind Wrex without even daring to look behind.

You know, it's amazing how far I've come. When I first got here, I would be out of breath from sprinting like that. But now that I'm more in shape... it feels kind of great. The thrill of battle keeps on calling soldiers to the battlefield, that much is for damn sure. I look up as soon as I can find cover. Tali is by my side as she hacks into a geth's network. I peer through the scope, and sure enough I see one of the geth turn on its own. I smile.

You sure know how to work your technical magic, Tali. Now to make it count... I take aim at another geth that I suddenly notice has most of its shields depleted. The rogue geth fires on it with its own weapon. Okay, time to finish it off! I fire a strategic sniper shot... and miss. Well, I have another try, so I quickly pull the trigger again. This time, it hits its mark, and I smile as I reload the sniper rifle.

Yeah, I'm definitely not as bad at this thing as I think I am. Thanks for the motivation, Ash!

I look through the scope and take aim at another geth, shooting at it and depleting its shields. I see Garrus has gotten the same idea, though, for I see the geth drop in a direction that indicates the rogue geth is not responsible. Speaking of which... isn't the rogue geth the only one remaining? Right... I look at it through the scope, take aim...

And watch as a biotic pull carries it above. Oh, Christ... Liara, Alenko, Shepard... No, just no. Gotta focus, Art. I take aim, and then I carefully calculate...

Of course, I calculate slower than Garrus, who takes a potshot at the thing. The geth falls to the ground useless now. I glance to the side where I see Garrus, and scowl slightly.

Right, time to switch weapons. I grab my assault rifle and hold it close to my person. I look behind us and see a door. Right, I think that's the way to the security station. I see Kaidan rush up to it, and he gets the door open pretty quickly.

Okay, I'll take it as my time to get in there. I rush over to the lieutenant, ducking behind cover almost as soon as I'm through the door. I realize that this is the elevator we're supposed to take down to the lower levels. I see everyone else clamber in ever so quickly, and then as soon as we're all in, Shepard presses the elevator button. The door closes, and then we go down.

We're left looking around. "This place must have its own power," says Liara. "The elevator would not be running for any other reason."

"This is good for us," I say. "At least we can get that door open."

"Let's just hope we can get to Saren in time," says Garrus, looking at a point beyond the ceiling of the elevator.

I can't disagree with that. I ready my assault rifle, knowing there will be a hell of a fight in the security station. I look to Tali and nod as she grabs her shotgun.

And as I glance to everyone else, I see a great amount of determination in the eyes of the entire squad. We can do this. I'm sure of it now, more than I ever was before. Before this day ends, Saren Arterius will have been brought to justice by us. We may be a bit late to stop damage from the Citadel, but we'll stop him and the Reapers. For now.

Because we have resolve. We can do anything.

After all, impossible is just a word people use to make themselves feel good about giving up, right? I know Shepard: we've done the impossible several times.

This time won't be any different.

The elevator door opens, and we all file out.

* * *

All right, so we kept the armatures intact. The armatures in the security station were a cinch to hack thanks to Tali's mad skills, and we managed to clear all of the geth out of the room.

And now, we're running around trying to find anything that can help us get the doors open. We duck into rooms. As for me, I know exactly where we're supposed to go... So Tali follows close behind as I peer over to an alcove.

As we move along, Tali looks to me, glancing around briefly before leaning closer. "Is it here?"

Hm? Is what here? ... Oh, wait...

"You mean that VI that tells us everything?" I ask.

She nods to this question. I blink, a slight frown on my brow as I shake my head. "We'll find it later," I reply. "It'll call itself Vigil when we run into it, and it'll know how to speak our language. Trust me on that."

The quarian leaves it there (good thing, too) as we look inside the alcove I remember from the game. I step inside, and look over. Sure enough, there's the console we need to activate. I glance to Tali with a nod. Her omni-tool lights up, and after tapping a few things on it, we look around the console.

"Any idea on how to open the doors?" she asks.

Oh, wait, I'm actually supposed to know that too? Oh, shit... "Uh... I just clicked on that to get that done," I reply. "No offense... But..."

Hm... I squint pretty hard, and then I point at something. It's an image, which is certainly better than nothing. "Maybe this might have something to do with it."

The quarian glances at the graphic briefly before nodding. She works on the console shortly afterwards, and before long we begin to hear a faint sound. I look to Tali with a nod as we hear this sound, and a short time later it cuts out. I hear some static on my comm unit.

"Okay, I think someone opened the doors to where we need to go," says Shepard.

I nod, bringing my hand up to the comm unit. "That would be Tali and I, Commander," I reply.

"Roger that, Serviceman," says the commander. "Meet with us out here and we'll head back to the Mako."

"Got it. We'll see you soon." With that, I cut the communication and stand at the console for a few seconds.

"Art?" she asks.

But her question doesn't need much more answering, for then a very damaged hologram comes up in front of us. It stands there, and then it garbles something... Shit, I just realized I don't have the Cipher. Shepard has it! Oh, well, I know what it's supposed to say anyway. It babbles incoherently at us, and it's not a language our translators can just pick up. Old Prothean language is old. Well, that, and it's damaged already, so that'll make translating on the fly impossible.

"What's it saying?" asks Tali.

"I don't know," I reply. "But if it's the same thing he was saying in the game, it's a warning against the Reapers."

Tali shakes her head at this. "The warning came too late..."

I nod, watching the hologram take a more serious, grim tone with us.

"Come on," I say. "Let's meet up with Shepard. We have to make sure the warning doesn't go unheeded."

The quarian nods at this, and then we both exit the room. Once there, we see the rest of the squad heading towards an elevator. Oh, hell no, you are not leaving us behind! Tali and I rush over to the others, who nod once we get there.

"You took a bit long," comments Wrex.

I glance to Tali before shrugging. "We ran into some kind of Prothean hologram," I say. "I couldn't understand it, and I doubt even Shepard could. It was really badly damaged."

The others nod at this as Shepard goes in after us. She closes the elevator, and then we're racing up over there.

"Anybody vote we take the Mako down there?" asks Wrex.

We all look to the krogan. Garrus blinks momentarily as he looks to the rest of us. Yeah, we'll need to take the Mako over there.

"We could use the firepower," says Kaidan. "We don't know what's waiting for us down there."

The commander nods at this. "All right," she says. "We'll take the Mako unless anyone has any objections?"

At this, we all shake our heads. And in the silence, it's agreed that we'll take the Mako down. Good to see we're all getting along here.

It'll help us in the long run.

* * *

And the Mako ride was... painful, as always. Good thing we boarded it quickly. It's a good thing, too. Also, the best thing about the Mako is that here we really only go in a more or less straight line.

That doesn't come without its ups and downs, though. Because it's still incredibly bouncy and stuff. So I'm just jerking up and down with the vehicle. I look over to Liara a couple of times as she jumps up and down with the rest of us. Wrex is doing a pretty good job of keeping her in place, I must say, although her hands are still incredibly white. Garrus and Tali don't seem to be doing much better behind their restraints.

And again, I'm thinking about Zero Punctuation. I wonder what Yahtzee would say if he were in my stead. He'd probably just ramble on about how this equals something obscene that I can't really think about.

I'm just glad it's not like a Vekoma roller coaster with curves, because that would be extremely painful.

We also stop a few times as Shepard does stuff. Oh, yeah, there are geth in this area. And they need to be shot down. So she shoots them down, and we keep going.

And then, after a few minutes, we come to a sudden stop. We look to each other before we hear Shepard say something about stepping out.

The restraints come up, and I rub my head again as I shake my head. "Well, I'm glad that's over with," I comment.

"So am I..." says Garrus. "Shepard is a terrible driver."

"Couldn't agree more," replies Wrex as Liara opens the nearby hatch.

I nod and do the same, Tali and I stepping out and looking to the right. Shepard and Kaidan both exited that way, and then we look upon something.

Wow, these tunnels are dark. They're even darker than they were in the game! Ahead of us, we see a red force field erected directly in front of the Mako. We all glance at this force field, and then I hear Garrus swear loudly.

"Shit, Saren must have set up an ambush!" says the turian on the other side.

I look up at the force field. It covers pretty much the entire tunnel, such that we can't get past. It's too big to belong to the geth...

"I don't think this force field was generated by Saren," I say, looking to Shepard. "Maybe there's somewhere close by that we can use to shut this thing down..."

The Commander nods at this. Soon after, we come around to the other end of the Mako, where the rest of the squad stands looking at the force field. Okay, there was supposed to be an elevator around here somewhere. So where... Okay, look for the switch... the switch...

I see Liara break away from the team momentarily. She examines the wall more carefully, and then she waves her arms.

"Commander, there's some kind of an elevator over here," says the asari. "Maybe we could find what is causing this force field down there."

"Got it, Liara," says the Commander. She turns to us and nods.

We don't need any more clarification to know to head down the elevator. I look to Tali, who I can feel gives me an uncertain look behind her visor. I nod once again to reassure her, and then we all follow the Commander to where Liara is standing. Okay, there it was. With the red slash-like thing on the other door of the elevator. I thought my memory was a bit spotty about the location of this elevator. The elevator closes shut as Shepard manipulates the panel, and then we're all going down.

I look to the window, seeing the scenery go by the elevator as we descend. Okay, this is a little on the creepy side. Seeing the glowing roots in Ilos is a little more unsettling than I thought it would be. My hand traces the window briefly, and I feel just the slightest chill from touching it. And yet, goosebumps shoot up my arm at this. Shit... this sense of foreboding... I know what's coming, but even knowing that I dread what waits for us below for some reason.

"I have studied the Protheans for decades, but I have never felt this sense of foreboding," says Liara. "What will we find down there?"

"It better be friendly," replies Wrex as the elevator slows to a stop. "We have enough enemies right now."

And then, the door opens. We see a walkway leading up to some kind of console, and my hand darts away from the window when I see this. All right, that's where we run into Vigil. We're almost to the end of the Ilos mission... After this, it's one more run on the Mako, and we're done both with exploring and with that god-forsaken vehicle.

The group comes forward with a bit of apprehension in the air. I can sense the trepidation from everyone except Wrex as we approach the console. We look at it briefly before approaching it. The console... wow, these Protheans must be really damn strange to have consoles like that with parts that spin in the air. It's a little odd, honestly, but hey, what can we do?

As we approach, we suddenly hear a voice. "You are not Prothean," says the object. All right, it's Vigil all right. "But you are not machine either. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. This is why we sent our warning through the beacons."

Kaidan gives it a look as he loosens up a little bit. "Looks like some kind of VI program," he says. "Pretty badly damaged."

Tali turns her head to face me. I nod, pointing at the console as it spins and turns. She nods in reply, and faces the VI. Yep, I think she got the message. Tali, meet Vigil.

"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you," says the VI. "Unlike the other that passed recently. Perhaps there is still hope."

"It's a Prothean VI..." says Tali. "How can we understand it?"

"I have been monitoring your communications since you arrived at this facility," replies the VI. "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend." Yay to instantly-translating VI's! "My name is Vigil. You are safe here, for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe."

Shepard shifts slightly as she looks at the VI. "Are you some kind of artificial intelligence?" she asks.

"I am an advanced non organic analysis system with personality implants from Ksad Ishen, chief overseer of the Ilos research facility," replies Vigil in that more or less steady monotone.

Shepard nods. "Why did you bring me here?" she asks.

The VI seems to hesitate briefly at this. Hm... that didn't happen in the game. It just explained itself away... "You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years," it replies. "But to stop it, you must understand, or you will make the same mistakes we did. The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of government. As it was with us, and has it has been with every civilization that came before us." It pauses. "But the Citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous mass relay. One that links to dark space, the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizons."

Tali whips her head violently in my direction. I nod grimly as Vigil continues. "When the Citadel relay is activated, the Reapers will pour through. And all you know will be destroyed."

The quarian machinist seems a little unsettled by this. Can't say I blame her; I told her about it just before she gave me an instrument and my sketches. Shepard seems less convinced, however, and she shifts slightly, her arms coming to rest at her sides.

"How come nobody ever noticed the Citadel was an inactive mass relay?" she asks.

"The Reapers are careful to keep the greatest secrets of the Citadel hidden," replies Vigil. "That is why they created a species of seemingly benign organic caretakers. The keepers maintain the station's most basic functions. They enable any species that discovers the Citadel to use it without fully understanding the technology. Reliance on the keepers ensures that no other species will discover the Citadel's true nature. Not until the relay is activated and the Reapers invade."

"How do the Reapers survive in dark space?" asks Shepard once again.

"We have only theories," says Vigil. "The researchers here came to believe the Reapers enter prolonged states of inactivity to conserve energy. This allows them to survive the thousands and thousands of years it takes for organic civilization to rebuild itself. But in this state, they are vulnerable. By retreating beyond the edges of the galaxy, they ensure no one will accidentally discover them. They keep their existence hidden until the Citadel relay is activated."

Shepard's face scrunches in realization as we all know what this means. "If Saren activates the relay, the Reapers can wipe out the Council and the Citadel fleet in one fell swoop!"

"The perfect trap..." I muttered under my breath loud enough for anyone who cared enough to hear.

"That was our fate," replies Vigil, not caring to note what I said. "Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel, and through it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the other. Easy prey for the Reaper fleets. Over the next decades, the Reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."

Slowly, a sense of dread comes over all of us. Wow... I've already heard this in the game, but the sense of dread of hearing it in the real world is more than I could've imagined it. Shit, this is serious.

And it's serious for the others, too. "This is horrible!" I hear Liara state.

"Surely there must have been survivors," says Garrus in disbelief.

But Vigil's reply is grim. "Through the Citadel, the Reapers had access to all our records, maps, census data. Information is power, and they knew everything about us," it says. "Their fleets advanced across every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed. Others were conquered, their populations enslaved. These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under Reaper control. Taken in as refugees by other Protheans, they betrayed them to the machines. Within centuries, the Reapers had killed or enslaved every Prothean in the galaxy. They were relentless, brutal, and absolutely thorough."

We shake our heads at this revelation.

"This is horrible," says Kaidan, shaking his head at this. "Why would anybody completely obliterate the galaxy?"

"The Reapers are alien, unknowable," replies the VI. "Perhaps they need slaves or resources. More likely, they are driven by motives and goals organic beings cannot hope to comprehend. In the end, what does it matter? Your survival depends on stopping them, not in understanding them."

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the Reapers remind me of that guy from 12 Monkeys who went rogue and spread the virus that killed 5 billion people. I don't think anyone ever gave the reason why he did; it just sort of happened. He was going around in plain sight, and then in the last ten minutes, psyche! And then he's unveiling the virus at the airport in Philadelphia. Unlike Bruce Willis, though, this is something that we can change, mostly because it hasn't already happened.

I shake my head. "We're just trying to wrap our heads around what this could possibly mean," I say.

"Understandable," says Vigil. "The researchers on Ilos asked the same questions you are asking now."

"Researchers?" asks Tali. "What were they researching here?"

"The secrets to the mass relays," replies Vigil. "The scientists here were kept in cryogenic stasis until the Reapers left. The Reapers knew nothing of Ilos; the researchers destroyed any records of the Ilos facility ever existing, and so we were spared. I awoke them after a long time, and then they developed a miniature mass relay."

"The Conduit..." mentions Garrus. I look to the turian as he regards this with a grim nod.

"Exactly," says the VI. "The Conduit was a miniature mass relay that we developed to lead into the Citadel. The scientists went to the Citadel after it was created, and they managed to disrupt the Keepers' signals. This is how we have acted to stop the Reapers."

"It's up to us to do the remainder of it," says Shepard. "A lot rests on our shoulders."

"Much more than you would think," replies Vigil.

I sense the air go still suddenly, and then I turn to the others. I suddenly see that none of them are moving, even the slightest inch. Wait... I take my hand and approach Tali. Upon seeing this, I wave the hand in front of her visor.

She doesn't even flinch.

I let out a long sigh, shaking my head.

"Don't tell me you can stop time too..." I groan.

"I sense the mark of Prothean technology on you," says the VI. "As well, I sense that you are not of this universe."

Oh, Christ, more about this fucking paperweight? I pull it out of my pocket and flash it in front of Vigil. "You mean this thing that Matriarch Benezia was going on about?" I ask, pointing at it with a jerky movement. "What the hell is so important about it?" On that note... "And how the hell is it that certain people just so happen to be able to stop time with this thing to give me information that only I can hear for some possibly very contrived reason?"

"Prothean technology had a more... mysterious tilt when we had our turn," replies Vigil. "It was one reason why we were able to destroy the records of the station on Ilos. The device you have in your hand can do many things for those that know how to use it."

I blink, shaking my head. "Then why the hell is it that someone 'not of this universe' has to do it?" I ask. "Because I'm beginning to think that I'm also supposed to wait until the forest of Dunsinane moves towards the castle and I meet someone not of woman born for this device to be of any effect."

The VI pauses briefly before buzzing to life a little. "It is not that extreme," says Vigil. "You will hear more after you pass through the Conduit and take counsel with it alone. Either way, know that it must be used by people not of this universe, because those not of this universe will be able to harness its potential more effectively."

I roll my eyes. "Great, so I am like a chosen one," I groan.

"Not necessarily," replies the AI. I'm sure it's an AI now. "You may still die, but others not of this universe may take up the call. Perhaps even those of this universe can take it. However, it will be far easier for those not of this universe to learn to understand the device with the short amount of time we have to defeat the Reapers. Take the device, and guard it from the Reapers."

"Uh... it was inside a Reaper for 50,000 years," I point out. "If it really is Prothean technology, as you say. And since Benezia had it... Why the hell would you throw something into the enemy when you don't want the enemy to have it? What kind of strategic sense does that make?"

"Ah, yes," agrees Vigil. "And yet, you have not been affected by the taint of indoctrination. That device was constructed here on Ilos before the crew stepped into the Conduit. The one named Sovereign was still in the galaxy at the time. We took it to the Citadel and launched it where we expected Sovereign to be. It seems to have worked, as you are now in posession of the item. Our theories about technology contain one theory that says that any technology found in a Reaper is converted to serve the Reapers. And it seems our device is still intact. After all of those years, and after what I assume is a few weeks after obtaining the object, I gather not a single person you've encountered has acted strangely or had a leaning towards technology."

"That's right..." I say. "So..." I blink as I look at the device in my hand.

Wait... So if it was in a Reaper for 50,000 years... "So you're saying this could counteract the effects of indoctrination?"

"One of many things it may be used for if the keeper knows how to use it," replies the VI. "This is why it had to be in the heart of the enemy; it built resistance to indoctrination during those years. In the end, what does it matter? The fact remains it must be guarded. Trust only those you would trust with your darkest secrets to see the object."

I look at the thing before raising one of my eyebrows. Well... if that means what I think it does... Yeah, this device could actually do a lot. I don't know if I can keep it safe all the time... but I'll certainly try. And... well, at least I know what this thing is. Prothean technology that does stuff, one of which includes being able to repel indoctrination. So at least it's better than what I've got. And plus, I can tell Tali about its existence now! That's always a good thing.

"All right," I say, nodding and putting it back in my pocket. "I'll guard it well, Vigil."

"Very well," says the VI. Is that a hint of pleasure I see in there? "Is there anything else that must be asked?"

I nod. "How the hell did your people communicate that Benezia needed to give it to me? And how did they teach her to stop time?"

The VI is brief with its reply. "A vision," it replies.

I don't get to process this before suddenly I find myself back where I was before it all started. I flinch slightly, and then look at Tali. I hear Vigil speak, but I'm no longer paying attention. What the hell was that all about...? And why do I get the feeling it's never going to be mentioned again? I see the quarian give me a sidelong glance before I nod. I'm fine now... I don't pay attention as I think about what just happened between me and Vigil.

Oh, well. At least I have answers. I pat my pocket to make sure the paperweight device thingie is still there. The VI finishes speaking, and then I nod to Tali. We progress to the elevator and press the panel, our hearts heavy with all of this new information.

Especially me, since I got a lot more information than anybody else did.

* * *

When the elevator door opens after the rise, we're greeted with-

"Holy shit! Geth!"

I scream this as I jump behind cover in the most dramatic way possible. Almost instantly we're peppered with fire, everyone taking cover against the walls of the elevator. The rounds impact the other door of the elevator, sparks flying absolutely everywhere. Tali, Liara, and I are quick to react from the left side of the elevator, and I grab out my assault rifle and trade fire with the geth. I duck back behind cover as more rounds whiz through the air.

"Damn it!" shouted Kaidan as he fired a singularity into the crowd. "How many of them are there?"

"We can't tell from here!" I shout out as I come out of cover and fire my assault rifle.

"Neither can I," says Shepard. "Team, as soon as we get that hallway cleared, we're making a push for the Mako!"

Okay, I think I can do that. I look up at the ceiling... shit, I hope my shields hold... Otherwise, I'm fucked. I'm not going to die so easily now that I know I am kind of like a chosen one. Because whether Vigil wants to believe it or not, I'm still only just a man. Oh, well... I peer back out of cover.

Shit, this is bad. This wasn't like it was in the game at all! And now we can't get to the Mako... Christ, I hope we can get to the Conduit before stuff happens. Oh, well...

I fire my assault rifle in there as Tali cocks her shotgun. She fires it at the geth I was firing at, thus completely taking down its shields. Liara fires her pistol into the geth as the both of us retreat behind cover. I don't hear so much as feel it fall as Liara then launches something into the crowd. I guess it's a lift, I don't really know with the shower of bullets heading over there.

I see Shepard toss a warp into the crowd, and Wrex firing his shotgun in there as I reload. I shake my head at this, frowning rather loudly. I peer back out the corner... Oh, okay, the geth are already kind of beginning to thin out. This will do us wonders, I'm sure.

Just in case...

I fire into the crowd as well. I manage to drop a geth's shields, but I'm forced to retreat behind cover as my shields take a hit. Okay, they're not depleted yet. Good. I see Garrus peer out and finish the geth I was working on with his assault rifle. When I am good, I peer out and fire my rifle into the crowd, taking down a geth that Wrex had been weakening with its shields. Okay... I just hope-

I suddenly see something get tossed into the crowd of geth. It flashes briefly, and suddenly... Yep, it's a grenade.

"Fire in the hole!"

I hear Shepard bark this, and then I quickly go behind cover and squint my eyes shut. I hear the boom shortly afterwards, and suddenly I open my eyes as Kaidan and Shepard both create a biotic field around us.

"Move forward!" shouts the commander.

Ah, going with the seeker swarm strategy, eh? I see what you did there, Shepard.

I get under the biotic field, seeing the geth populate the area. Liara quickly comes in and augments to the biotic shield, and then Garrus, Wrex, and Tali all join me in providing suppresive fire for the geth. Yeah, this is a great idea, Shepard. It might not hold forever, but we'll do what we can.

Slowly, I advance forward with the rest of the shield. I switch out for my pistol, and fire at more geth. I see shields go down all around me as we advance, the bullets flying against the shield. A geth prime there gets its shields depleted by Tali, with finishing fire from me and Wrex. Geth trooper over there gets downed completely by Garrus. Liara, Shepard, and Kaidan strain to keep up the barrier as it gets pelted with more bullets and we slowly advance to the Mako. Okay... somehow one biotic can deflect seeker swarms, but three buckles under geth fire? Okay, that's a little uneven. Then again, it is two humans and an asari maiden we're dealing with; in the two successful cases, we're talking about a superpowered convict and an asari Justicar, so...

Wow, there are so many bullets... And the ripling against the blue force field is so beautiful I hesitate in firing for a few seconds, watching the patterns. The overlap is beautiful... Like ripples in a pond on a bright summer day. It's an astoundingly beautiful image, really. And I-

"Serviceman, what the hell are you doing?"

Oh, damn it, I got carried away. I look past the biotic barrier to a geth with a rocket launcher. Okay, time to test the rocket trick again...

"Sorry, Commander," I say, squinting as I wait for the right moment.

Okay... its finger is on the trigger... and...

Oh, shit, he already fired! Pull the trigger!

I do so, but it's a bit late; the bullet lodges itself into the rocket launcher and the weapon promptly explodes, and the geth's head gets blown off along with it. But it doesn't hit the rocket, which promptly collides with the biotic barrier. It fizzles out of existence briefly and our shields all take a hit. Liara is quick to erect another biotic barrier, but it barely holds under the multitudes of bullets that are there.

"Oh, damn it!" I shout, bringing up my firearm.

"Hurry Shepard!" says Liara. "I don't know how long I can hold this barrier!"

"Right," says the commander. "Fire!"

And all hell breaks loose. Kaidan and Shepard all bring out their guns and point them into the crowd as Garrus, Tali, Wrex, and I start finishing the rest of the geth. All around us, the synthetic beings start to drop like flies as we bring fire. Tali's shotgun takes a geth's shields down as Garrus drops it. I take a shield down and Wrex finishes it. We begin firing like this for every single geth we see. Eventually, we're making our way towards the Mako. Holy shit, there is a bit of a crowd here. I glance over my shoulder briefly to see about the force field.

Okay, the Prothean force field is no longer there. All right, we're good to go!

I turn back and fire my pistol at more geth. By the time there are a few left, I manage to get a spot behind the Mako to take cover from. Garrus follows my lead, and then the rest of the squad comes around as quickly as I can.

And then, right as Shepard and the others are about to dart behind it, the bullets become too much for Liara; the biotic barrier flickers, and then it fades out of existence. Liara falls down, but close enough to the side of the Mako Garrus and I are firing from to be able to crawl in there. Tali dives back and Wrex opts to fire a few shots into the crowd as Kaidan dives behind cover. A hail of bullets from some of the remaining geth are fired, and then shields are hit.

It's when we hear Shepard howl in pain that we know something has gone royally to hell.

Quickly, Wrex pulls the commander back into cover. We reconvene there as the geth fire at us, and then look to Shepard. She's bleeding from somewhere on her arm in two different places. And in the center of her hand, there's a pretty small hole. Wait... did a bullet...? Oh, shit, Shepard got shot! She groans in pain as Kaidan rushes over, applying medigel to the wounds.

"Oh, no..." says Kaidan. "This is bad!"

"You bet it is," replies Shepard snappily. "Damn it!"

Garrus looks at where the force field stood before Shepard got shot. "We need to stop Saren!" he says.

"But this is bad!" says Kaidan. "I don't know how to drive the Mako, and neither do most of the rest of us!"

I blink at this. Oh, shit... Oh no!

"We'll never make it in time!" exclaims Liara at this.

I hear them exchange some other yelling about the Mako. But... shit, this didn't happen in the game at all! Granted, specific injuries never happened, but still! Oh, Christ, time is running out, Saren is heading to the Citadel, there's nobody to drive the Mako, I only know how to drive this thing by holding spacebar and pressing a keyboard, and-!

Wait.

Did they ever describe the interior of the Mako in-game...? Oh, wait, I don't think they did... What if...? Yes... Yes of course! It's a long shot, but it's better than nothing at this point. Plus, if cars like the ones we have back home are still around in the 23rd Century in the _Star Trek _reboot, they may just have them here.

"Does the Mako have a physical steering wheel?"

I cut into the frantic conversation with this, and all eyes are on me. Kaidan gives me an odd look as everybody else looks on in surprise. Shepard shifts, her teeth gritting as the medigel helps her wounds out a little. They all look at me before Kaidan shakes his head.

"What does that-?"

"Yes, yes it does," says Shepard. "Why?"

Okay, physical steering wheel. "And does it have manual acceleration and braking mechanisms I can trigger with my foot?" I ask. "And gears? Does it have that?"

"Yes!" shouts the commander. Yes... there's a manual driving system! "I don't see what this-!"

"I can drive it!"

There is silence as Wrex and Garrus both give me an odd look before rushing to cover to take out the last remaining geth. Kaidan regards me with a shocked expression before Shepard nods.

"Yes, that makes sense, they still have cars on Earth," she mutters. "Yes... You're right. That's the best idea we've got." She nods to me as she stands up, her arm supported by Kaidan's shoulders. "Serviceman, you're taking the helm of the Mako. Choose your gunner, and let's get going."

"Commander, are you sure that is a good idea?" he asks.

The Commander glances at Kaidan sternly. "Did you have any better ideas, Lieutenant?"

His jaw works briefly before closing. He looks over to me as Garrus and Wrex come back behind cover. "Right..." he says.

I nod to Kaidan. "Make sure her wound is patched up before we get to the Conduit," I command. "She'll need it."

Kaidan nods as he grabs his weapon. I see him peer behind cover before disappearing from my line of sight with Shepard in tow. Liara follows him shortly afterwards as Garrus and Wrex both reload. I look to the two of them and nod.

"Garrus, Wrex, get in the Mako!" I shout.

But both turian and krogan are one step ahead of me as they step out of cover. This leaves me and Tali alone, and the quarian tilts her head.

"Don't tell me this is because-"

"Trust me, it's not just because of the game," I reply, going over to where the driver's hatch is on this thing. "I actually had to learn how to drive back home." I nod at her as she comes up behind me. "You try living in a world where the distances between places are an hour away if you drive!"

She seems to understand this. So then the quarian nods at this, and then follows me. "I'm guessing I'm your gunner?" she asks.

"Yeah," I reply, climbing up onto the ladder. "Now let's move! We don't have much time to waste!"

And nothing more is said as we quickly climb the ladder. I pull the Mako's hatch open, and then Tali and I both drop into there. Okay... the driver's seat is here, and the gunner's seat is there... I wonder how Shepard manages this thing when she's driving by herself. Okay, examine the area...

Okay, looks like this is electronically started. I look at the interface briefly before I see a button with a circle and a line.

...Christ, they still use that symbol for 'power on' in the future?

Right... nothing I can do about that. I press it, and then the Mako buzzes to life. Okay, the steering wheel is physical... I test my feet where they are to find that the brake and acceleration pedals are both physical, and I look to my right to see that the gear lever is holographic. All right, an all-manual interface! Well, except for the gears, but it looks easy enough to manipulate. Yes! The window's pretty clear, too, which will make my life easier. About the same view I'd get from a driver's seat on my version of Earth. Okay, awesome. Thanks, James Tiberius Kirk! As Tali sits down, the area around her seat lights up as she sees the guns laid out on a holographic interface. She looks to me, and I look to her. Okay, this will work wonders. But first...

"Tali, turn the cannon around," I say. "Make sure it's facing behind us."

At this, she seemingly balks. "Art, the geth won't come from behind!" she says. "We need to have it-!"

"It's not for the geth!" I reply. "What's Newton's second law of physics?"

The quarian gives me an odd look before looking back and reciting. "Every action has an equal an opposite reaction?"

"Exactly!" I say with a hand gesture. "Point the cannon behind us and fire continually! We need to build up speed here!"

"Oh... Oh!" Good, she's got it. "Right... I'll get to that then. If it even works."

I shake my head as I grip the steering wheel... Wait, I haven't driven in a while... Well, where we're going, we don't need rules, so I suppose it's all fine. I look at Tali as she calibrates the cannon in the requested direction before she nods to me.

"All right," I say, bringing my right hand down. I hit the pedal a few times and am greeted with the screech of tires. Okay... I can do this. Anything to save the Citadel. Shepard is out of the Mako. Now it's my turn.

I at least hope I won't be as bad a driver as she is.

"Let's do this!"

I shift into 'drive', and then I slam my foot on the accelerator. My ears are greeted with the screech of tires, and then we're off.

All right, cue the music for Ethan's first trial, and here we go!

I watch the path in front of it as we begin to head down the path. I look to Tali as she nods. We rocket down, and then she fires the cannon once behind us. I look over to the holographic spedometer, and see that we've just increased our speed a little bit. Okay, yes! Thank you, Maxwell Adams! Your Let's Play of GTA:Vice City is certainly helping to save the galaxy right now! I look down the path and suddenly see a few geth.

"Right..." I say. "Engage them with the guns!"

Tali's hands move on the control pad, and then we see the geth come out. The guns activate, and then I see the geth get dropped mercilessly by the geth's fire. All right...

Wait, this is a 90 degree curve, and we're still speeding towards it! Shit, how do we do this... how do we do this... Oh!

"Hang on to your seat, Tali," I say... Okay, gauge your distance... "This is going to be quite something!"

All right... Now!

I slam my foot on the brakes slightly, sending me into a jolt. Okay, let's see if this works in real life and with a tank. I then hold on to the brakes as I turn the steering wheel as hard to the left as I can. The vehicle responds appropriately, mostly throwing itself to the left as I grit my teeth. Okay... Screeching tires, and the curve is coming...

Okay, now!

I then slam my foot on the accelerator. I feel a slight pelt on the right side before we go rocketing back down the path, falling into a tunnel and going very, very fast. We mostly managed to avoid the wall, and we did a turn. Okay, it worked! We rocket down the path into a cave, Tali cursing out her shock before suddenly, I feel a little bump on the right side. Oh, shit, should've remembered that!

The Mako is then felt flying into the air as it flips around. Holy shit... we're doing a barrel roll! I see the world spin around us once, and all of a sudden I feel like I'm on Montu again, only this time trying to save the galaxy instead of having fun. Fortunately for us, the Mako lands on its wheels. It does bounce up to the left a bit, but the right wheels touch the ground soon after. Okay... the river is here. Just follow the river and we'll be good.

As I accelerate away from the landing zone, Tali turns to me for a moment. "What in the name of Keelah was that?" she asks.

I give her a shrug as I smile. "That is called the powerslide," I reply. "I learned about it in a videogame once. I never thought it could actually be done in real life, though!"

Speaking of which, thanks for the life-saving abilities, Mario Kart!

"Don't do it again!" she replies. "That was... painful."

I raise my eyebrows before concentrating back on the road. "I hope I don't have to!"

Right, back to the task at hand... Okay, giant root, cut under that and turn right... Okay, there are more geth here. Tali calibrates the main guns, and most of them go down without too much of a problem. Yeah, these geth are a pushover, really. She fires the main cannon again. Okay, the Mako's spedometer is moving faster. All right... Hm... Since the Conduit is a mass relay... And we disappear as soon as we hit it...

I look to the Spedometer. All right, we're travelling at a nice 44 miles an hour. We have a few minutes to get to...

"Tali," I say. "When you see the Conduit, I want you to fire off the cannon as rapidly as you can."

The quarian looks over to me. "Right," she says. "Of course. What would the optimal speed be?"

I grip the steering wheel as the Mako jumps slightly upon coming over to a downwards incline. I speed down it as I smirk.

"88 miles per hour," I reply. "Hang on to your seat Tali; this is gonna get heavy!"

We race down the incline, picking up speed as we see a bunch more geth. By now, the main guns aren't doing anything; we're beginning to ram into the geth with enough force to disassemble them rapidly. I hear Tali fire the cannon again, and then we pick up a little speed. Right, that brings us to... 54 miles an hour. Okay, stop thinking about the colored logs and just get to the point.

Okay... what now... Oh, yes, there's that one room with a bunch of geth in the game. But we're going to rocket right past that... I can sense it... the Conduit is close!

I then make a sharp turn to the right, the troopers bouncing off of us harmlessly as we suddenly turn to face a geth colossus. Tali lets out a gasp before quickly calibrating the cannon.

"Art, a colossus!" she shouts.

"I see it!" I reply. "Keep the cannon facing back! We're going to go right past this thing! And if it tries to attack us from behind, you know what to do!"

The quarian gives me an odd look before sighing and recalibrating the cannon. Okay... the colossus is firing a rocket... wait, shit, how do I-?

Oh, holographic interface button. I quickly press the jump button, and then I feel the Mako levitate off the ground. The rocket passes beneath us, and we barely survive a scratch. I look down at the ground as we hit it, and then the main guns fire into the colossus' shields. Okay, that should take care of it should it decide to attack us. Okay... S-turn in 3... 2... 1...

Now!

I quickly turn the wheel to the left, just grazing the side of the geth colossus as it fires another bolt of blue energy at us. This narrowly misses the back of the Mako as I then look to the path. All right, to the right now! I turn the wheel to the right, and then the Mako is rocketing dow the path again, the cannon facing behind us. I see Tali fire the main cannons again, and then we're rocketing back down the path...

"All right..." I say to myself. "I can do this... Come on!"

Okay, the path ahead curves around stuff a little... just dodge that, and we'll be fine. Okay, right stick to the right... Now to the left... Now to the right... I feel the Mako make a small jump as we do that, and I manage to right myself for dodging to the left as soon as I am able to. Meanwhile, we're still running over a few stray geth troopers. I concentrate as much as I can... Which is easier said than done considering how I'm trying to envision cars going in the other direction right now.

Right, don't think about that.

I swerve to the left briefly to dodge a piece of rubble, and then I see the river go to the right... Right, go to the right with the river. More geth keep firing things at us, and our shields are starting to drop... Oh, dear...

"Tali, make sure the shields are running at optimal capacity!" I shout. "The Conduit's going to deal quite a blow to them when we find it!"

"Of course," says the quarian. She calibrates a few things as the guns fire away, and then we see the shields go back up to full capacity. She gives me a look from where she sits, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as I position myself slightly to the left.

I take another look at the spedometer. Okay, 64 miles per hour. All right, we're making good on 88 miles per hour here! I shift gears to hopefully help it along, and I see the speed slowly begin to boost.

Another rocket trooper comes out to fire at us, but the main guns take out the rocket and the trooper in one fell swoop. As Tali fires the cannon again, I take a swerve to the right. We're still going fast as hell, but right now that's kind of the point. I turn to the left very quickly, and suddenly I can feel the Mako tilting to the side a little bit; just as well, too, for that meant we narrowly dodged a rocket that was heading towards us. I lean to the left a little bit to see if I can steady the vehicle, and sure enough it seems to work as the left wheels touch the ground again.

Okay, keep going straight... We see the rocket trooper that fired the rocket, but before long we run over that just as we have with the numerous geth. Okay, one more peek at the spedometer. 68 miles per hour. Wow, we're going really fast right now... Good thing I played through this at much slower speeds. I'd have a harder time knowing what's coming...

Speaking of which... I make a hard left turn again, and I look ahead of me. Okay, mostly straight corridor... Okay, that's a root I'm seeing in the shape of an arc, along with something straight and metallic shooting up out of the earth... Shit, I think we're close.

And sure enough, just as we hit a downwards incline, we see the light blue glow of the miniature mass relay that is the Conduit. Tali looks upon this in awe, and I've gotta admit, seeing the blue light is more epic than anything I've experienced yet. Okay...

"Art, it's the Conduit!" says the quarian.

"I know!" I say as we rocket down the incline. "Fire the cannon with all you've got!"

She nods at this, and then repeatedly fires the cannon. Okay, 70 miles an hour... Oh, come on! I shift gears again, and we pick up a little speed from this action.

Wait... doesn't the river curve a little? Oh, shit... Well, there's nothing I can do about that. Just keep going...

Tali continues firing the cannon as then four geth colossi come into view. Tali looks around at them as they begin to fire at us.

"Ignore them!" I shout. "We have less than 40 seconds before that thing closes on us!"

She nods and continues firing the cannon. Okay... We've just hit the squiggly part of the river, and we're at 78 miles an hour now. Okay... We've gotta go faster!

I shift gears again, and then we're rocketing over the terrain. By this point, we're going so fast that all we can do are small jumps. I hope everyone in the hold is doing all right for themselves. Come on... we're so close to the Conduit... don't fail me now, shields!

I look to the spedometer again as Tali fires the cannon. Okay...

"82 miles an hour!" I shout. Okay, we're almost there! "Keep firing, Tali!"

The quarian does as she's told, and we rocket over the terrain. Okay, 83 MPH... We're rocketing past the geth colossi, their cannons damaging each other.

84... The Conduit seems just a little brighter!

85... The colossi are damaging each other now, we're going so fast... So close...

86... The Conduit is getting ever closer...

87... We've just hit the upwards incline to the Conduit...

Tali fires the cannons relentlessly, as we race up the incline... Okay, so close...

88 miles per hour. And the Conduit is directly in front of us.

"Initiate the flux capacitor!"

Before Tali can ask my meaning, we see a spark light up around the Mako as it speeds towards the miniature mass relay. And then, we're enveloped in light as we rocket off of Ilos and onto the Citadel. The blue light all around us...

Holy shit... I did it... I actually piloted the Mako all the way to the Conduit... Holy shit... this is awesome! Yes!

"Ha ha!" I let out loudly, pumping my fist in the air. Tali seems to be getting in a good mood as she nods, her body language expressing a great amount of joy. All right, we made it to the Conduit! We're already halfway through the battle! We're doing-

The blue cuts away, and suddenly we see two geth colossi standing there, wondering what is going on.

Great Scott! I completely forgot about that!

"Brace yourself!" I cry out.

And the Mako collides with the two colossi, and a huge crash of metal is heard all around us as we tear through the colossi. The Mako makes a sharp deceleration as we crash into them, the holographic interfaces around us flickering out of existence as the metal dents and the windows break. We suddenly feel the Mako flip on its head, and then it's sliding away with the ground of the Citadel under our heads. Before we know what else is new we suddenly feel the vehicle hit something. This slows us all to a stop, and then we're left in a brief daze.

Oh, shit...

"Damn it!" I say, punching the air in front of my stomach. "I completely forgot about those colossi! Damn it, I need to think more 4th dimensionally!"

"Flux capacitor?" asks Tali.

"Uh... _Back to the Future_," I reply. "It's a human vid from the 1980's, and you totally need to see it one of these days."

"Right..." says Tali, unbuckling her seat belt and falling to the side. "Let's get out of here and make sure the others are all right."

I nod, unbuckling my own seat belt and falling to the side. "Yeah, good idea," I reply. I rub my neck as I look to the open windows.

Tali and I both crawl out of the wreckage of the Mako, and then look upon the Presidium. Well, at least we're in the right place. That's always a good thing.

Right... time to check on the rest of the squad. I stand up, holding my hands on my knees briefly to steady myself. I look down to Tali after I have my orientation down right, and then I help her to a standing position. We both look over to the Mako, and then we walk over to the hatch quickly. Searching the hatch, we quickly open it, looking inside almost as soon as we come in.

Garrus and Wrex both clamber out quickly, the krogan rolling on the floor as soon as he comes out as Garrus pulls himself upright. When he stands up, I think I see the smallest trace of orange blood, marred with medigel for safety. Liara is next, and as she steps out of the Mako she looks a little dizzy, such that Garrus has to catch her to steady her. Shepard is out next, and she's holding up her bandaged hand which fortunately looks in good shape. Kaidan comes out last, his black armor covered in Shepard's blood as he rubs his temples briefly before stepping out.

"Okay, so we know it's not Shepard," says Kaidan.

"I told you it was the vehicle!" shouts Garrus. "The thing is too springy for its own good!"

"Uh, guys, let's not worry about the Mako for a second," I cut in. "We've got a rogue Spectre to stop."

"This much is true," says Shepard, looking around. "It seems as if we're in the Citadel now. Nice work, Serviceman."

I nod in appreciation of this. Wow, Commander Shepard actually appreciates my efforts! Wow, this is...

...not going to end well if we don't find Saren.

"In the meantime, we still have Saren to deal with," says the woman as she steps forward, taking out her pistol with her good hand. "Let's go and stop him."

We all nod in agreement. Drawing our weapons out, I take one look at the Presidium where I hear the sounds of warfare going. Space is loud indeed...

Right. It's time to end this!


	21. Chapter 20

________

___________A/N: And we're back with some more battling. This time, Saren takes the fight to the Citadel, so what do we do?_

___________We follow him, that's what. Ah, the final chapter of Mass Vexations is upon us. It's this, and then an epilogue. I plan on taking a break once I finish the epilogue, do some other things. And then, come September, I'll go ahead and start Mass Vexations 2._

Oh, and if you guys haven't done so yet, go to the theaters and see Inception. Like, right now. I saw that movie yesterday... and holy shit. Words cannot describe how awesome that movie is. So go see it. Now.

________

___________So yeah. Let's go kick Saren's ass!_

* * *

Chapter 20: The Battle of the Citadel

The Citadel VI was about as helpful as it was in the game, I.E. very helpful.

But of course, I already knew we had to go to the Council chambers. So we're all clambered in the elevator, hoping to get to where Saren is.

I look up at the glass of the elevator. Wow, I feel like Leonardo diCaprio's character in that one teaser trailer for _Inception_ where he just looks up and sees stuff. I doubt we're going to wind up in any hallways that seem to defy gravity, though... But still, it's a bit of a thought...

Wait, yes, yes we do! We're going into the Zero-G bit!

I look to Shepard with a strange look as I look around.

"Uh, Shepard?" I ask. "Are you sure taking the elevator is a good idea?"

With this, the Commander looks down, and all eyes are on me. We were pretty silent before I brought it up, so I guess it's my fault now. It's always my fault for disturbing the ilence, I guess.

"Yes," she says. "It's the best way to get to the Council Chambers in time. Even with how slow they are..."

Oh, yes, the speed. Well, Bioware certainly nailed the speed of these things. Jeez, my younger brother can walk faster than one of these elevators can! Seriously, I know it was to hide loading screens, but you're in trouble when 170 years from 2010 you can't make fast elevators in a city that practically demands fast elevators. Then again, the Reapers did build the station, so... Maybe they decided to make the elevators slow just to spite us? I guess it makes sense given what their day job is.

But still, the elevators won't be reliable too soon...

"Well, I mean..." I reply. "Saren's trying to activate the relay, right?"

"That's correct," says Liara.

"Well... if he's activating the Relay, then that technically means he'll gain access to the Citadel's systems, right?" I ask.

The others give me odd looks before Shepard crosses her arms. "Serviceman, are you implying something?"

"Well, I mean, if Saren needs to activate the relay, then he'll probably also get control of the Citadel's systems along the way..." I reply. "And if those systems happen to include elevator function..."

Okay, if that doesn't get my meaning across...

But it does, as I see Shepard's eyes widen. Everybody else does a double take, and suddenly we all realize that maybe the elevators weren't such a good idea after all. Shepard looks to the glass walls of the elevator, and then blinks uncomfortably.

And just before anyone can comment, the elevator comes to a stop. We look around, and I shrug at this.

"You see?" I ask, gesturing to the elevator walls.

Shepard shakes her head. "For once I wish things would just go according to need," she comments bitterly. "But we'll make do with what we have. Suit up, everyone; we'll be entering zero gravity soon!"

And with this, she takes her pistol in her good hand and fires a few shots at the elevator wall. The glass cracks considerably at first before the final shot causes it to shatter. The shards fly out... and then they seem to be suspended in the air. Whoah... I never thought I'd see that outside of maybe a few seconds in sci-fi movies...

Wait... shit, I never got training in zero G situations before! Granted, I've played _Dead Space_ before and I think I know how to jump around a zero G environment, but still... I look at the vents nervously as everybody else seems to calibrate their omni-tools. I blink, and then look at my own. Okay, go to the suit menu... oh, my armor has magnetized boots? Jeez, I wish I knew about it earlier! Okay, I'm going to activate it, and...

Voila! I am now ready to travel in zero G. Right... Just don't lift your feet up or you'll have a hell of a time trying to get back to a surface. Right...

Somehow I know I'm going to forget that.

We all nod to Shepard as soon as our suits are calibrated and sealed. I never thought I'd use a helmet, but hey, what can you do, yeah? The commander goes to the hole in the elevator wall, and she is the first one to leave the elevator and enter into the zero G environment. Everyone else follows soon after, and I bring out the rear. As I float around in the zero G zone following the same trajectory as everyone else, I can't help but look around. Wow, I never imagined myself doing any of this... and yet, here I am, floating around in zero gravity. I feel like I'm flying somehow, only without the gigantic metal tube surrounding me. Planes do that to you; I swear I've never gotten on a single flight without thinking of an airplane... It feels nice to be floating outside of that for once.

This is actually rather invigorating... And I like it a lot!

I touch down on the ground, drawing my assault rifle as I nod to Shepard. Okay Art... keep one foot on the ground and you should be fine... Otherwise, just throw whatever you've got in your hands to touch down and pray to god it bounces back to you afterwards.

Everyone else draws their weapons of choice, and then we're going off. Right. I think it's time we brought the fight to the Citadel!

Shepard is the first of us to rush forward, and everyone else follows. I'm not too eager to fly off just yet, so I take a little more time. Okay... keep your foot on... Foot on, foot off... Foot on, foot off. I look up as I run...

Wow... the Citadel looks so majestic from here... If I weren't fighting to save the galaxy I'd stop and admire the scenery. Wow... this is quite a view. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before... But we don't have time for that... I should get going.

So I follow Shepard closely as she seems to go down a ramp. Well... how do you say going down a ramp going upwards in zero gravity? Okay, she's going up the tower. Right. We're right by an elevator shaft, of course, and things seem to go so slowly... It's so quiet here... So... ethereal...

Wait, isn't this...?

I suddenly see the elevator rise up in the direction we're going to crash against the stationary car. We see the glass crash a second later, and I nod as I see this. The only thing is it was a lot noisier in the original game. But, this is a vacuum, and this is what vacuums do. We see the geth rush out a second later.

But it's not too many geth. Only six of them. Wrex gets the sheilds of one and I shoot it down quickly. I look to Shepard afterwards. Her good hand comes up and fires the pistol at one of the geth several times before Liara kills it. Kaidan fires a throw that greatly takes two of geth off balance. Tali cocks her shotgun and fires at another one, which I promptly finish off with some assault rifle fire. As I turn to everybody else, Garrus is just getting the shields of another geth, and Wrex is taking down one of the ones that Kaidan threw off. I look to the last one and fire its shields, but not before it gets some rounds out at us. I feel my shields take a hit, but the Wrex has come in and shot it down.

All that... wow, that went by so quickly I don't know what to think... We continue down the... er... corridor, and we see a couple of stray geth as we go. Garrus and I have it under control, though. I shoot at the closer one while Garrus shoots at the farther one. Tali shoots the one I take down with a shotgun blast directly to the neck while Wrex simply rushes forward and melees the one Garrus shot at with enough force to cause its lights to go out. We continue down, and we eventually see another ramp-like thing going up.

Shepard rushes up this one, all the rest of us following behind very quickly. Wow... we're covering a lot of ground very quickly...

As soon as we go by, we're outside, and we can look upon the Citadel again. I feel a little creeped out here... Kind of like Isaac Clarke must have felt somehow... It does make this a hell of a lot creeper, as I can't hear anybody approaching...

But I can see them the way I see the krogan warlord bum-rushing us. We see three geth come up behind it, and it fires at us. Shepard's shields take the shot, but Kaidan is quick to act; he simply lifts the krogan biotically. Ah, yes, good thinking Kaidan! I watch the warlord float off into space, firing its shotgun wildly. But it's too far away to do stuff, so I concentrate back on the geth.

Wow, Shepard is efficient. She's already shot one of them directly in the head, the 'corpse' floating off as I see Liara throw another geth out. Eh, the geth and the krogan will probably kill each other off... I concentrate on the last remaining geth, seeing Garrus rush forward and shoot at it. Okay... I run forward just in time as Garrus gets shot at. His shields are still holding, I hope... Either way, I shoot the geth so that its 'corpse is then seen flying out into the void of space...

I blink and think about how eerie the silence is... Hm... Ligeti's _Atmosphéres _would be good listening right about now. Or maybe _Tableau_ by Helmut Lachenmann would work. Hell, maybe even Prokofiev's Scythian Suite would sound good... Oh, what about Scott's action music from _Heavy Rain_? That would work too! Hm... Figuring out good fight listening is fun...

But I don't have time to work my playlist into the battle right now as we round the corner. We see quite a few geth, and Shepard rushes behind cover before firing. Understandable, given the state of her hand. I smirk at the geth, bringing up my assault rifle and firing into the crowd. Their sheilds get lower, which Garrus thankfully finishes. I see Kaidan execute another throw, sending a geth flying into the heart of the Citadel as Shepard fires her handgun again. Wrex rushes forward, hitting a geth straight in the face with a shotgun as his shields take a few bullets. I run forward, shooting at one of the geth that had fired at the krogan. Its shields are taken down, and then Liara simply shoots at it quickly.

As soon as we see the geth thin out, we rush up the ramp. Shepard is not far behind, and before long, she's taking the lead again. Her hand doesn't look too bad, thankfully, but she's being very careful with it, reloading slowly. We see a pair of stray geth attempt some pot-shots at her. Her shields take the hit, but those things won't last forever. Thankfully, Kaidan and Liara are both quick about acting, and then the two of them are thrown into the air, and as they drift away I smile in glee.

"Oh, I like the look of this!" I say with a smile.

We advance forward, with Shepard taking the lead once again. We come down to yet another area, and we see more geth in the place. All right, more firing time! I fire my assault rifle first at one of the geth. Liara promptly shoots it down as Garrus rushes forward. He takes down a geth's shields, and then I see Tali run forward quickly. It only takes a blast of a shotgun from her to put the geth down as another one comes out of its cover. Oh, so you wanna die too, eh? All right, that can be arranged. Shepard fires her pistol at the thing as soon as she finishes reloading. After a few shots, I grab my gun. Having rushed up to the geth... all right, here goes! I melee the geth with as much force as I can.

Eh, I didn't quite take its head off. That said, I think I did quite a bit of damage to him. Fun times.

Hm... we're not really facing up the Citadel tower... Wait... we're going to the left in relation to the top of the tower. So...

I look to the side. Yes, it is! Sovereign is there!

I pause briefly at this, taking a few seconds to look at Sovereign. Holy shit... there's something more menacing about seeing the Reaper ship up close and personal than while running up. Shit... This is crazy. I give it a look, taking a few deep breaths.

I finally turn to see the rest of the group running forward. Ah, right, better follow them.

I bring up the rear, and as we come out of that area and proceed to climb back up the tower we see a geth dropship come down. Okay, there's that dropship!

We also see a few defense turrets as the dropship rushes towards our location. Wow, Saren and Sovereign are not pulling any stops whatsoever. Okay... I look to Tali, who gives me a look herself. She nods, and activates her omni-tool. As Shepard and the others take positions, Tali and I rush to the nearest turret.

I stand by her as she works to bypass the turret's systems. The dropship lands as I feel a small, earthy boom at my feet. I look up seeing as Shepard and the rest of the gang take shots at the geth pouring out. Right... it likely won't cut off at 15 geth the way it did in the game, so it's up to Tali and I to get these turrets up and running.

The quarian gets the first set of turrets up, and she nods to me. I peer out, and then we're both dashing to the next turret. I almost forget about the rule of keeping my feet on the ground for a moment, however, and I nearly slip up. Thank goodness for Tali being close by, though, for she grabs my wrist and pulls me down, her own magnetic feet keeping her to the... er... wall? Yeah, the wall. She pulls me back down and then I fire at a geth that had taken a shot at me. It had missed, but still, I don't like getting shot at.

We both get to the next turret, and I finish off that geth as Tali gets to work on the next turret. She works quickly, and I look down and watch her work. Her fingers move extremely fast for a machinist, and it's spellbinding to see her work. She is completely focused, just the way I would be if I were playing my viola. It's what she does best, of course, and I find myself rapt with attention as she works.

So rapt, that my shields go down. I blink just before ducking back into cover.

Okay, that was colossally stupid of me. But fortunately I see it get taken down by someone. I don't know who at this point. I look to Tali as she stands up. All right, that's two turrets under our control! One more...

We both rush over there, and I fire at another geth that comes towards us. Its shields go down, and then I see blue surround it as it's biotically lifted into the air. Okay, thanks Kaidan! Tali and I rush to the last turret, the machinist working on the interface to bring the thing alive. I see more geth rush out and decide now is as good a time to rejoin the battle as any. So I take my assault rifle and fire the thing several times into the crowd. I see a geth's shields go down, with Garrus promptly finishing it as the group closes in around the outpouring of geth. We see the dropship begin to take heavy damage from the two turrets... two turrets, which is now turning into three turrets. We see the rockets fire at the geth dropship...

And soon enough, it's sent flying away from here, the flow of geth coming out stopping altogether. All right!

Shepard seems to be fine, thank goodness. I follow up behind her as she leads the way yet again, and we rush down a corridor. We see a couple of krogan, but Kaidan takes care of one almost instantly by lifting him again. (Kaidan's been lifting a lot of things lately... when did he ever get so cold?) I look to the other krogan as Wrex rushes forward and fires a shotgun at its armor. It doesn't kill the krogan, but Tali and I both rush behind our krogan and put a few bullets in. That takes care of that as it floats away.

We move forward a little bit, shooting up more geth and all that jazz as we go along. Eventually, we come out to a more open area where we see a bunch of things... Oh, dear, the geth-controlled turrets... Oh, this is going to be a problem!

I look at the turrets as Shepard gestures to us. I see a geth trooper off to the side and shoot at it just before it can do much. I see Tali finish it off with her shotgun as we quickly move forward.

But then, I see the turrets fire at us, the rockets barely dodging us as we get a move on. I look on and- holy shit, a rocket just flew right by my head! It just flew right by my head! Another inch, and I probably would've ended up like Garrus in ME2. I don't know what's scarier; that it almost hit me, or that I couldn't hear it.

Either way, I take this as my cue to duck behind cover quickly. I do so, and look as Shepard and Kaidan both stand up and fire at the thing. Liara fires a singularity into it as Garrus adds to that. I'm not too keen on adding things there, instead trying to find the other way into the tower. I spot where we're supposed to go, and then I see another rocket fly overhead. Wow... these rockets are powerful...

I then turn to the others, and with a final shot from Shepard the turret goes down. Shepard gestures with her gun hand to get a move on. Apparently, she's seen the passage too.

We rush after her, and then we come across yet another corridor-looking place. Jeez, why are there so many corridors outside of this freaking city? As we rush down this, we see two krogan warriors and someone in decorated armor race towards us.

Yeesh. A battlemaster. This is not going to end well for anyone. Although, with how fast we've been going, this should be good.

I see Tali fire her shotgun at one of the krogan warriors, taking its shields down in one shot. As Kaidan lifts the other warrior into space, I start to fire my assault rifle at the other warrior. Shepard finishes it with a blast from her own gun, though, and the krogan's corpse floats off.

This leaves the battlemaster with us. I see Garrus rush forward, but I see a light blue glow. Oh, right battlemasters are biotic... Shit, this could be a problem. It's a good thing they don't really throw stuff in the game. I mean, that would just be-

And suddenly, I find myself lifted off the ground.

... Shitfucker! I did not come all this way just to get myself killed by some battlemaster! Shit... I should've known they'd be able to do that stuff in real life! Damn it! This is why I really hate biotics in real life. I always seem to fail whenever I'm fighting against a biotic... Granted, this wasn't that asari commando bitch from Noveria, but still. This is troublesome...

The world spins around me as I look down at Shepard. Right, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. And if astronauts get stuck in space, they toss their packs... So...

I do the only thing I can think of. I throw my assault rifle out into space.

Somehow, it manages to get me to stop mid-flight. It's not enough force to send me back to the tower, though. I see myself then float over the tower in a stationary pose, watching the battle with the battlemaster unfold below. I see the battlemaster attempt to lift someone else, but his hand gets shot away and the battlemaster takes a few rounds to the shields from Garrus. Wrex pumps a shotgun blast and takes down the rest of the man's shields. I can see Kaidan preparing to lift the son of a bitch again, but before he can Shepard manages to shoot the battlemaster in the face. It doesn't stop Kaidan from doing so anyway, though As I float in the stationary position, I see the battlemaster float up...

And it just so happens that he's floating over to me.

Okay, I have a jump point! As the corpse comes closer to me, I breathe in and out... Right, I've got one chance to do this right.

I look over to the Citadel tower, and then as the corpse comes within reaching distance I reach out and clamp on. We spin in the air briefly, and I look to the side. All right, gotta time this just right, or else I'm fucked. Okay... Back to the rest of the Citadel... back to Sovereign... Back to the tower...

Now!

I push away from the krogan, the force enough to send me down to the group. I look down as I approach the tower and Tali looks up. All right, I got it in the right direction! I slowly float back down... and promptly realize I'm falling on my back. Fortunately, Wrex and Tali are both there to catch me as I float down, and then my feet are back on the ground in a secure position.

Okay... That was an experience I'd rather not live through again. But I'm still there Wrex and Tali were there to help. I nod to the two of them as they help me get oriented, and then we're travelling up the tower again.

Nothing much happens the rest of the way. We take down a couple more geth, and that's about it. We come to a hatch to the interior of the Citadel tower. We look at it, and Shepard nods. I see Wrex approach and open the thing.

All right. If memory serves me right, we're going to see Saren soon. This'll be the first time I see the rogue Spectre in the entire time I'm here... Ironic how I've been here basically since after Eden Prime and I haven't even gotten to see the game's main villain face to face. I can't stop thinking about Benezia's warning. Saren will kill me on sight, eh? I imagine he'll be too busy trying to convince Shepard to drop her cause. And besides, going by what Vigil told me I could be any one of numerous people not of this universe here. How do they know that I'm the one?

Well, we'll see about that. And the whole not seeing Saren thing will be fixed soon.

As I stand there musing about this, Wrex manages to open the hatch. Shepard gives it a brief look before turning to us. We nod in agreemen, and then we jump into the hatch and step back into the Citadel tower.

* * *

Okay... here we are, in the Citadel towers... And we're blasting geth away. I grab my pistol and shoot at some more things. Yeah, not having my assault rifle sucks right now. Oh, well. In a year or so it'll clamber dow onto the Citadel. And stuff will happen. Either way...

I blast some more geth. All right, there are trees everywhere... we're in the room that Saren uses to try to give control of the Citadel to Sovereign. Fun times abound. We fight our way through several geth, and... well, they're not so tough after the zero G battle. Honestly, it's kind of refreshing to hear bullets whizzing by your head. My armor is all bloody with orange blood, but hey, what can I do, you know?

We rush up the stairs after eliminating almost all of the geth in the room. Shepard does so, being careful about her hand as we rush up and raise our guns.

Okay, there's the platform Saren was working on before we got here. But, he dropped out of view just before we held our guns to him. Wow... we're all holding our guns out in front of us... And now we're expecting Saren to do something.

I know what that something is, though. And as I see Tali adjust her shotgun, we hear the whirr of something rising up. And before I know what else is new, I see the man himself rise up.

So this is Saren Arterius... Shit, he looks creepy as fuck. He was bad enough in the game, but seeing him in real life... Brrr! I feel goosebumps form on my arms as I behold him, in all his barefaced, mechanical glory. He seems indifferent to everything, his fringe especially highlighting that. And the eyes... Oh, god, the eyes... They're just so blank. Not soulful like Garrus. But just so... mechanical. I suppose with Sovereign's implants that makes sense, but holy shit does this guy creep me the fuck out! Gah! I'm already fearing facing him in combat.

But all that is in the span of a split second as I see the grenade get tossed. Shit!

I jump out of the way, as does the rest of the squad. We're all sent flying, and then I hear a boom go off beside me. My shields take a hit, and suddenly, I find myself disoriented. Shit... That was a close one.

When I pay attention to my surroundings, I see that the squad is all over the place. Shepard is in her usual spot, the rest of the squad has either taken cover behind the staircase (like Garrus) or has found themselves in the trees (like Liara). I myself find myself on the opposite end of the walkway that Shepard is currently taking cover behind. I glance to the woman as she winces, her hand obviously in pain. But she doesn't show it, instead shifting her injured hand slightly as she shifts where she is.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard," begins Saren.

Oh, God, his voice... The raspy quality is bad enough, but jeez, the subharmonics are crazy! And now, there's a whole new mechanical aspect of his voice in there as well, like there's a gear whirring in his vocal chords... Okay, thats seriously creepy. Wow, I didn't think meeting Saren in real life would be this intimidating for me...

"In time for what?" asks the commander.

"The final confrontation," replies Saren. "I think we both expected it would end like this. You've lost. You know that, don't you?" Oh, dear, here we go... "In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of the Citadel's systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return."

Shit... I hate that speech so much because it's so typical. But now, it just sounds creepy... Shit, best if I let Shepard handle this.

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" she replies.

I peer out behind cover and see Saren hovering on that fucking platform he's always on. "You survived our encounter on Virmire," he continues. "But I've changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has... upgraded me."

Oh, yes, the implants. I've been wondering about that myself. I guess the implants are some of what I'm seeing right now.

I see Shepard shift agitatedly, her face already scrunching up as she listens to that. "You let Sovereign implant you?" she asks. "Are you insane?"

I turn my attention back to the rogue Spectre as his platform floats around the area he was working on. "I suppose I should thank you, Shepard," he says. "After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrination. The doubts began to eat away at me. Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve." I see him lift his fist at this. Yeah, well, we'll see about that. "Now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."

All right, this is enough. I think we all know how indoctrination works well enough, but I'm just sick and tired of the commander having that lone conversation with Saren! Besides, I hate bullshit 'you have failed' speeches like this. Really, what is the point? Is this an ego trip for Sovereign? Fuck this!

"Sovereign's controlling you!" I reply loudly. "I don't think your destiny is to be controlled!"

Shepard shoots me a glare that tells me I should have kept my mouth shut. And almost as soon asI say it, I feel Saren turn to me... Shit... I look at Saren as he gives me the most direct look he will... Shit... he's scary when he glares at you... fuck...

"Ah, so this is that scamp you were going to on Virmire," says the turian spitefully. "I though you knew better than to bring little boys into your battles, Shepard."

I gulp, looking at the the turian Spectre... Shit... Just look him in the eye and pretend that noghing is wrong. That'll do the trick. I hope...

I look at him, and almost glance away as soon as I do. I tighten my left hand into a fist to hide the fact that I'm scared as hell... Shit...

"I'm nineteen years old!" I reply. "I can also vote on Earth and drink on the Citadel. And if I recall, I would be in the military if I were a turian. So don't you go telling me who's a boy here!"

"Yes, but how are you as a soldier?" asks Saren, crossing his arms. "No doubt you are inexperienced..."

I bite my lower lip before continuing. "I was before," I reply, taking a deep breath. Okay, just look into his eyes, and whatever you do, don't even blink. I feel myself frown to keep my concentration on the tuian. "What the fuck does it matter? I don't know much, but I know when someone's doing something under someone else's control! You can't see what that ship is doing to you?"

I feel Shepard's gaze lessen on me as I look at Saren. Just look all defiant and everything will be all right. "You would not understand," he replies cooly. "The relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future, the evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth!"

Oh, no you don't. I shift slightly where I am. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off... Wait, that's a bad idea. We can get Saren to shoot himself and avoid this battle directly. Might as well do that. I close my mouth, and look Saren directly in the eye. Shit... I've got one chance to not fuck this up... What if...?

Oh, snap out of it. You managed to save Wrex. If you managed to do that while unarmed, you can have a verbal face-off with Saren Arterius. Just remember; look him in the eye, and don't back down.

All right, now that we have that out of the way... Here goes.

"You're pretty fucking insane if you think the future of organic life is to get hypnotized by machines that spew out more pretentious holier-than-thou speeches than Armond White!" I reply. Obviously, Saren doesn't get it, because he simply floats there as I squint at him. "But that's not you!" I continue. "You said earlier that Sovereign would have control of the Citadel in a few minutes. Well, a few minutes can change a lot! We can still stop Sovereign!"

Shepard gives me a look before chiming in. "I have a way to stop him," she added. "Step aside and I can stop Sovereign!"

"You do not understand!" he replies. "We cannot stop the invasion! Not forever! You saw all those Prothean ruins! An entire civilization, brought to nothing by the hands of the Reapers! They are too powerful! Your mind would not comprehend their power!"

"It doesn't matter how much power they have!" I shout back at him. Okay, I'm getting my ammo. And somehow his eyes are becoming less creepy. Okay... I can do this! I can do this! "Even great powers can be stopped! Our own history tells of great men standing up for what's right and succeeding! If there was a way to bring down Nazi Germany, there's a way to stop the Reapers! There's gotta be some part of you that knows that what you're doing is wrong! You can fight it, Saren Arterius! You can fight it!"

I breathe in and out heavily as I look to the turian Spectre. I glance to Shepard for the briefest second to see her nodding in approval at this. I bite my lower lip before turning my attention back to Saren. I sense the hesitation in his gestures as he begins to hold his head. I sense Shepard's gaze lightening up.

"Perhaps you are right..." he says. "Perhaps there is a way to... to..."

And then I hear him growl in pain. Oh, dear, Sovereign is hurting him with his implants. That's not good. My eyes widen involuntarily as his platform hovers a little.

"The implants..." he says. "Sovereign is too strong. Stronger than you can understand, young man. I'm sorry. It's too late for me."

Oh, for the love of three oranges! I shake my head, and roll out to present myself to the Spectre. I hear a few gasps of shock behind me. But Saren doesn't scare me anymore. He's still in there somewhere... And I think I can get him to redeem himself! All right, Art, you can do this!

"It's never too late!" I reply. Wow, I could play inspirational music to this.

"You can still redeem yourself, Saren!" adds Shepard as she slowly stands up. She walks over to Saren. "I can stop Sovereign! _You_ can stop Sovereign!"

"We've still got time, Saren!" I say. "You can do this!"

He gives me a pensive look, and slowly, I see his pistol hand fidget. Oh, dear...

"You are right..." he says, slowly bringing the hand with the pistol to his own head. "Goodbye... Thank you both."

The pistol is then directly under his chin, and he shakes. I can briefly see his eyes get some form of life. Regret, maybe? I dunno.

And then, a loud bang resounds throughout the chamber as I see Saren shoot himself in the head. I cringe upon seeing blue blood rush straight out, and I balk a little at seeing the blood flow uninhibited from Saren's head. He stands there for a split second, his eyes closed as he topples over to the side. I see him fall off the side of his platform, and then watch as he falls off. The shattering of glass is heard next, and then a small thud sounds in the area. That's all the clue I get that Saren is dead.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Wow... Am I ever glad I played all those JRPG's in high school. Lloyd Irving would have been proud. As would Vyse. I literally just gave an awesome motivational speech, and I feel so awesome about it it's ridiculous. Except... wow, I didn't think I could do it. And yet... here I am.

I feel the others come forward, and then I see them all gather around me. Shepard holsters her pistol briefly, and nods.

Before I know what happens next, I feel a fist connect with my head. Ow, fuck! In the exact place that Wrex head-butted me, too!

"That was an incredibly dumb move on your part," she says. "Do you know how easily the situation could have gone out of control?"

I'm in no mood to argue with Shepard as I bow my head weakly. "I'm sorry, Commander," I replied. "It's just... you know. With the insanity and all that, I couldn't stop myself. I mean, I-"

She raises her good hand up, thus interrupting what I'm saying. "It didn't spiral out of control," she continues. "I'll give you a lot of credit; being able to stand up to a rogue Spectre is no easy feat for anyone, much less to a Spectre with Saren's standing. The situation could have gone out of control extremely easily. The fact that you kept yourself under control and kept the situation from going out of hand is extremely commendable."

Oh, so Shepard likes that! Wow... "It wasn't easy, you know," I reply, shaking my head sheepishly. "I was actually kind of scared, and really creeped out..."

"I sure couldn't tell," replies Garrus. "You handled that really well, Art."

"I said it once, and I'll say it again," comments Wrex. "You've got a quad on you, kid."

"Right," I nod, looking to the walkway as I chuckle nervously. Wow... I still can't believe I actually convinced Saren to shoot himself. Wow, I guess I really have come a long way since I first came here. "Uh... Thanks. I don't think we have all the time in the world for congratulations, though. There's still a sentient ship to stop and a galaxy to save."

Shepard nods at this, and she approaches the holographic panel Saren was just at. She brings up her hand slowly and keys up her omni tool. I can see her wince slightly as she does so, and she turns her attention briefly to me. "Thank you for reminding me," she says.

And with this, she walks in front of the control panel, and keys a few things on her omni tool. A few seconds later and a beep sounds. I see her shoulders relax slightly as she turns back to us.

"All right, Vigil's data file worked," she said. Ah, yes, the VI must have given her that file while I was distracted. "I've got control of all systems."

"Quick!" says Kaidan. "Open up the Citadel's arms! Maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down before he gains control of the systems!"

"See if you can open a communications channel," adds Garrus.

The commander nods, keeping her injured hand low as she keys something on her omni tool. A few beeps later, and we hear static come onto the comm channel.

"...the Destiny Ascension!" shouts someone. Oh, dear, here we go. "Main drives offline, kinetic barriers down 40 percent! The Council is on board, I repeat, the Council is on board!" The transmission comes in and out of static distortion, but the message is the same. I cast a glance to the others as Shepard steps forward. Shit... this is not good at all...

A second transmission comes up. "Normandy to the Citadel." All right, there's Joker's voice! "Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Commander."

She seems to regard her helmsman with some respect. "I hear you, Joker," she replies.

"We caught that distress call, Commander," says Joker. "I'm sitting here in the Andura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension. Just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in."

We look to each other as Joker cuts out briefly. I shrug at this, and I see Tali gaze over at me. Yeah, here's the moment of truth... do we save the Council or not?

"Are you really willing to sacrifice human lives to save the Council, Shepard?" asks Garrus, shifting slightly where he stands.

I cross my arms. "Garrus, this isn't something that concerns just humanity," I reply. "This concerns everyone in the galaxy."

"The Council didn't help us at all," says Wrex, waving his arm dismissively. "They deserve what's coming to them."

"The Council is too important..." counters Liara, shaking her head softly. "To let them die would be a great blow to the galaxy, as much as Sovereign activating the Citadel relay. They must be saved."

We look at each other, thinking of our differing opinions. Tali and Kaidan have no opinions, which leaves me to glance at the quarian. She seems a little nervous. Can't say I blame her. I'll bet she's wishing Shepard to save the Council. Trust me, Tali'Zorah, so am I.

"What's the order, Commander?" asks Joker again. "Come in now and save the Ascension, or hold back?"

Shepard, for her money, seems to be taking serious considerations at this. I don't really know what she's thinking, but I imagine it's pretty complicated stuff. But it seems her mind was made up, as she shifts on one of her feet and looks at the panel in front of her.

"Opening the relays now, Joker," she says. "We need to save the Ascension, no matter what the cost!"

All right, she's saving the Council! Probably not the best idea given how blind they are, but hey, as I said earlier everyone else is just as negligent. I just hope that fucking turian will be voted out of office by the time ME2 rolls around. There are enough air quotes to go around for me to want to punch him.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Wow... Shepard is a paragon all the way. Somehow, I can't help but think the Council is going to forget who saved their asses in a few years' time...

"I hope you know what you're doing, Shepard," says Garrus.

I see the Commander key in a sequence, and we suddenly hear a sound. Okay, is that the sound of the mass relays opening? I guess... Something changes on the holographic panel, and then we nod at this. All right! Without missing a beat, Shepard taps some more commands on her omni tool. We suddenly hear a station-wide groan, and then we look out the window into the sky...

We hear the comm units pick up in activity.

"Destiny Ascension, you are all clear," says Joker's voice. "I repeat, you are all clear."

All right! Fun times are had!

We see the arms of the Citadel open up before us. And from the window, we can see... Yes, it's the Alliance! Yes! Things are going splendidly right now! They rush in, and they attack Sovereign with a lot of fire. The Reaper is still holding on, though, and we can feel the force of the explosions impacting against its shields where we are. How it does that, I don't know. But hey, this is cool at best and unsettling at worst. So it's the best of both worlds.

And I am kind of glad Shepard saved the Council, honestly. It'll really help interracial relationships from this point forward. Maybe give Terra Firma a run for its money.

But... there is one last order of business. Shepard steps forward on the platform, and then the rest of us follow suit. There, the body of Saren lies motionless. The Commander crosses her arms, and I can sense a slight bit of pity in her gestures as she looks down. She then turns to us and nods.

"Make sure Saren is dead," she commands.

I look over. Wait... it only takes two squad members to do that. So who...

I see Wrex and Kaidan nod. Oh, they're going to go down and see about it. Okay. That'll make it easier when Saren comes back to life soon. I inch ever closer to Tali as Wrex and Kaidan walk around to the back of the platform we're on. We both look down as the human and the krogan both fall to the ground. Tali comes close enough that we can whisper to ourselves as we watch Kaidan and Wrex approach the partly synthetic turian.

"Is it over?" she asks me softly, looking down at Saren.

I shake my head. "We have one more boss battle to go," I reply. "Just... watch."

I come away from her as Wrex pulls out his pistol. I look down at the quarian I trust so much, and see her wringing her hands in nervous anticipation. Honestly, I'm sort of anticipating things too. The gunshot will be... mostly decisive. Anyway, it won't stop Sovereign. Not completely.

But it makes the krogan bringing the pistol up to Saren's head that much more tense... All right... here we go...

A lone gunshot sounds out as Wrex puts another bullet in Saren's head. The downed turian doesn't flinch, all of us watching from the walkway above. After a few seconds of silence, Kaidan goes to his radio and nods gravely.

"He's dead," he says.

I see Tali look to me as we all let out a collective sigh of relief. She takes a bit of a gesture when I raise my finger up in warning.

"Not yet," I whisper, leaning closer for a second. "Watch."

And with this, I pull away from Tali, watching everybody slowly relax. Okay, cue the freak event in three... two... one...

The earth begins to shake a little beneath our feet. All right, this is more like it! I feel read to take on things.

As soon as we realize what is going on, I see flashes of red behind me. Red lightning, got it. The lighting flashes all over the place, and suddenly we see a very heavy concentration of them in the chamber below us. We see several flashes of the unnaturally colored lightning before we see a blood red aura cover Saren. And before we know what to make of it, he's screaming in pain.

Yes, a dead person is screaming in pain. The pain must have been so bad it brought him back to life...

And... Ugh, God... it's even more disturbing seeing this in real life! Oh, my god... his skin is melting... And it's resembling the effects from one of the _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ remakes that James Rolfe mentioned on ! The skin sloughing off... Oh, god, it just slips off his body! Yech! And the blood! It's not even falling off with the rest of the flesh; it's just boiling straight off of Saren's skeleton...

Holy shit, this is disturbing!

"Oh, keelah!" I hear next to me.

I don't get to add my own comment to this as I behold... Shit, this is graphic... It's worse than the game, and it's _definitely_ worse than the creepers. I'm afraid of seeing what the actual human milkshakes will look like in the near future...

And before I can muse on this more, there is an explosion of energy from there. The force of the explosion sends Wrex and Kaidan flying away from the turian, and I hear distinct thuds as we hear them collide against something. We don't get much further, though...

Ah, Christ, the platform has just shifted beneath us. Oh, dear... I feel it lurch forward, and then Shepard, Garrus, Tali, Liara, and I are left suddenly sliding forward just a little bit. Shit... I slide down a little bit just as the platform jolts again. This knocks me off my feet, and then I'm sliding down the platform on my back. Oh, God, this is gonna hurt...

My ass collides with the ground of the chamber below me just as the platform lurches completely. I tumble over, and I see the world go spinning around me as I twirl away from the platform. A couple of seconds later, I land on the ground, letting out a small 'oof' as I roll on the ground. I come to a stop soon afterwards, laying on my stomach as I groan.

Ow, that hurt! Yeah, doctor's advisory warning. Oh, God... I'm going to be feeling that for a week.

I hear some kind of high-tech slashy sound, and then a squish. I look up weakly, and see Saren's skeletal form. Oh, God... it looks creepy as fuck. I can see all the circuits. The metal... Oh, god, it's disgusting! And Saren's face is still on it! Oh, Christ... And it moves! Now I know how Sarah Connor must have felt seeing the Terminator walk out of the flames completely unscathed. Shit... I never thoguht I'd see a robotic skeleton walk towards me like this. But shit... seeing it in person is just fucking scary...

Shit... I see it take a very short glance at all of us, its eyes scanning the room. Those eyes! They're so fucking creepy! I see it move its head around for a bit before I suddenly notice that its eyes are transfixed on me, and then I... is that a growl? But wait... why is it looking at me...?

Or... wait... it's not looking directly at me... But more to my...

I look down in the direction Saren's staring at. And I see a light orange glow there, the mysterious paperweight still in one piece. It's still in my pocket... wait... I look up at Saren, and then see the cyborg's eyes staring at it with the lightest trace of hunger.

...

Oh, shit!

I see Saren leap up to the ceiling, and my eyes widen. Shit shit shit shit shit! I scramble to my feet as quickly as I can, and I break out into a run. I decide it's best not to grab my weapon out as Saren lands where I was a few seconds ago.

I start running away from Saren... Right, first rule of chase sequences: never look behind you. Second rule, run as fast as you can. Not like Paris Hilton in that shitty _House of Wax_ remake. Third rule... hope he's not catching up to you. Fourth rule... don't trip.

I dash around the perimeter of the room as quickly as I can... Shit, my sprint doesn't hold out for long... Motherfucker, I think he's going to catch me! Or... wait, there's the corner! I feel Saren jump around the room, and... yes, I can push off of that piece of debris to change direction! Okay... Rushing towards it... now. I hear Saren soar through the air, and I look to the object I plan to bounce off. My hand moves first, grasping the debris lightly so that my feet can springboard off of it. I then look to the side, my feet flying onto the object and then launching me off at an angle. But by this time, I've turned in midair and land, resuming my sprint. I make a quick turn as I hear Saren land beside me.

Just keep running and hope that doesn't happen, Art... Just think that and everything will be fine!

I hear him scramble along the plates... No, damn it Art, just keep dashing forward!

Before long, I see the others slowly get up. Okay... maybe they can help him do-

And before I know what's going on, I feel myself get tackled to the ground. Ow, my ribs... Ooh, I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning. I also feel a heavy weight on top of me, and then I look behind to see Saren on top of me.

Shit! He got me! I panick, grabbing his arm as it dives for the paperweight. Shit... keep it safe at all costs...

Ow... arms burning from the stress... Keep it away... Press X repeatedly to not die... Shit... I attempt to roll to the side, the attempt mostly working. Of course, I'm on the side that doesn't have the paperweight, making it easier for him to grab it. Oh, well. Not like there's much I can do about it unless I want to shatter it under our combined weight... Of course, he manages to correct himself, slinking up so that he's still over me, the evil sneer in his eyes... Shit...

Wow, he's persistent. I feel claws on my left hand as he pins it behind me. Oh, no you don't! I pull harder against Saren's arm, gritting my teeth as I try not to let it take a hold of the orange paperweight.

I suddenly notice that my legs are still free... My other hand is pinned behind my head, but my legs are free. And last I remembered, I had pretty strong legs...

I bring my legs out and place them against the husk's chest. With all my strength, I push away from Saren as strongly as I can. My legs come out, forcing the husk off of me. Without wasting another second (and ignoring the dull throb in my hip bone) I quickly get back up on my feet, and dash away. I glance behind me as I do this to see a blue aura surrounding him. I stop, turning around and seeing Kaidan use a biotic attack. It's successful; the husk stops where he is in the room, distracted.

"Thanks!" I shout. Okay, this is a good time to draw my weapon... I grab out my pistol, aiming it at the husk.

"Don't mention it!" shouts the lieutenant.

Okay... I bring up my gun and fire a few shots at the now disoriented Saren. I see Wrex rush forward and plant a shotgun blast straight in its belly before running off. I decide hiding behind a piece of something will get it to stop. And so, I dive beneath the ramp that I was hiding behind.

Right... don't make any more blunders like that again... I hide behind cover, and then I see Saren come back to his senses. The husk then growls frustratedly. I stay down behind cover, keeping my firearm poised as I keep an eye on the turian husk. Just stay calm. Stay focused. And don't let him see you for too long.

I glance around the battlefield as I see Garrus rush forward. Shepard is of course wincing in pain with her bad hand underneath as she holds up her pistol. Liara is holding her gun, and I see her glow blue all of a sudden as Saren leaps onto the wall and dashes off of it. Liara lets out a singularity, but the singularity misses Saren as he touches the ground nimbly and crawls away from it almost like an agile spider. Most of our shots miss, too, and I hear Saren scurry along. Okay... scope it out...

I quickly roll behind cover, being sure to keep one surface visibly obstructing my view. Wow... this fight is a lot harder than it was in the game. Then again, I didn't have Saren trying to kill me specifically, so I guess I was luckier.

Speaking of luck... Tali just happened to get really close to Saren there. Seeing this, she takes a very close potshot with her shotgun. We see the husk writhe a little bit before growling at Tali. Shit... it might hurt her...

Fuck you!

I take a few shots at the husk from behind my cover, my aim a little wild as I forget about the recoil briefly. My weapon comes back, sending me falling over. Fortunately, this helps a little bit, as I fade back just as Saren grunts in anger.

I hear assault rifle fire come out then, and I look to the side to see Garrus firing his assault rifle at the husk. Damn, that red aura is still around him... his shields are still down! Wow, this thing doesn't go down easily...

I move around my cover as Saren slinks off, and I see Wrex bum rush Saren again. Another shotgun blast is fired at Saren, followed by a biotic throw from Kaidan. The throw disorients Saren enough that I can see him fly off to the side. I take this time to fire another couple of shots, his shields still stopping the bullets as I watch. And then I see a blue burst hit Saren. I look to the side to see Liara has fired off a biotic blast, and this one has hit.

It hasn't just hit red, either. I see that it hits Saren himself as the husk stumbles back slighty. We all look on it in realization as Shepard grins wickedly in reply.

Okay! Its shields are down!

Now it's time to unleash the kraken!

Apparently, everybody else has the same idea. I see Kaidan launch a singularity, and then I see the miniature... black hole thing cause Saren to levitate around. The husk seems to move about frantically, but it's too late. I come straight out of cover while Saren goes floating around. I pull out my gun then, and just like everybody else, we begin to pepper Saren's robotic skeleton with a hell of a lot of gunfire.

We're all pitching in... Shepard with her pistol, Kaidan with his assault rifle, Tali with her shotgun, Wrex with his shotgun, Garrus with his assault rifle, Liara with her assault rifle, even I with my pistol. Of course, this will only last for a few seconds, but we'll get in what damage we can. Sure enough, we begin to do some visible damage to the husk, as one of Wrex's shotgun blasts manages to shoot off the thing's foot. And we riddle it with bullets, such that when it finally manages to get back to earth it sort of just sits there disoriented.

But it's quick to get back on its feet, and then I see it look straight at me...

Wait... his hand seems to be getting off his arm... Hm...

If I can time this just right...

Saren leaps up at me, the jump not being nearly as high as it was thanks to the bullets we've riddled him with. Okay, wait for it...

Now!

As the husk is about to leap on me, I grab a hold of the hand that's aiming for the paperweight. As I do so, I duck underneath Saren, sending him falling onto the floor with his back on. Okay, that's good timing. The rest is up to me. I place my foot on the skeleton's ribcage, still holding the hand. Thinking fast, I pull on the hand, my feet keeping the skeleton in place as it seems to keen in pain. Okay... just keep pulling...

After some very harsh effort on my part, I manage to rip off Saren's hand, the sound of stuff coming undone reaching my ears as I step back briefly. I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from making some bad hand-related quip, instead preferring to throw the hand to the side.

Saren gets up as I rush back, and I see assault rifle fire pepper its body as it stands. But instead of leaping about like he was earlier, he suddenly gives us a very malevolent look as he jumps onto what remains of the platform above us.

Oh, Christ... not this attack!

I quickly rush behind cover as suddenly Saren lets out several red bolts of energy. The bolts travel around the room impacting against everything. I see one impact against Liara, sending her flying away before I turn my attention to everything else. Wait... these bolts are flying all over the place, blowing up against whatever they touch... I crouch down, looking at the husk as it fires its energy. Shepard and Kaidan are both making good efforts to dodge it, but I see Wrex rush over without a single care towards the blasts. He pumps his shotgun once and comes in right under as the rest of us scramble to dodge these projectiles. I see him aim his shotgun up, and before I know it I hear the harsh report of it as it cracks underneath Saren.

This interrupts the attack long enough for Saren to look over. I glance briefly to Shepard, who is staring at the husk as it falls. She brings her pistol up, wincing at her injured hand as she fires a few pistol shots into Saren.

The first bullet lodges itself in one of the eyes. The second, on the chest. The third... somewhere I don't want to think about.

And the last one causes Saren to crumple down in a completely lifeless state. We see the red lightning leave his body, and then all is silent in the chamber for a few seconds.

I slowly come out of cover, eyeing the husk as it lays there... Shit... I think this is it! Yes...

We then see red take over Saren's body, and then the husk glows brightly for a few seconds. The metal skeleton melts away after a brief period of time, and we see black-ish smoke rise up from where the implants used to be. And when it's gone... there's nothing left. It literally evaporated into the air... It's silent as we regard the spot where Sovereign's implants used to be, and I find myself breathing in and out just a little easier.

And then, we hear a slight groan as we feel a light shaking all around us. Huh, so this is what it felt like for Sovereign to let go of the Citadel tower... We suddenly hear comm chatter about how Sovereign's shields are down...

Holy shit... We actually did it! Yes! We kicked Sovereign's ass! We did it, we did it, we did it did it did it! We hear more comm chatter, and then Joker's voice comes in on the comms.

"Hard on my flank, we're going in!"

All right, Joker is going in with the torpedo that takes down a Reaper! And Sovereign is going to get blown up soon, and Shepard saved the Council, and-

Wait. Sovereign is going to get blown up soon... And since... Oh...

Shit! The debris!

I look out the window, shock overtaking my features as Tali approaches me. She looks on with concern as I grab her arm.

"Shit, I think we need to get out of here!" I mutter under my breath. I grab her forearm roughly, and slowly head back.

"Art?" she asks.

But she doesn't need any more confirmation, for then we see a huge-ass piece of Reaper heading towards us. Shit! I knew it! Good thing I didn't start my victory dance!

"Go!" shouts Shepard loudly.

I don't need to be told twice. In fact, I don't need to be told at all. I break into a run even before the word leaves her mouth. My hold on Tali tightens, and then the both of us are dashing away from the chunk of debris flying towards us. Tali looks back as I pull her along, the two of us sprinting as quickly as we can.

And then, we hear the collision of the debris with the Citadel tower. The floor shakes violently beneath my feet, and then I'm thrown off, falling forward and down a flight of stairs as the building shakes violently. I see Tali fall in much the same way, and I roll upon landing. I look up, feeling the vibrations of the building shaking in my body as I take in a deep, shocked breath.

I promptly cough from the dust that's risen from the collision, and I shake my head as I look up.

Wow... the damage to this area of the tower is worse than I thought. there are the flaming trees and the broken floor and the debris and glass lying everywhere... but still... Wow, just wow.

I shift slightly where I lay as Tali does the same. Shit... the paperweight!

My hand darts into the pocket, and I sigh in relief when I find the thing is still in one peace. Okay, good, we won't get royally screwed by the Reapers later. I take another deep breath and turn to the quarian.

"That's it..." I say. "It's over..."

I can scarcely believe it myself. We've stopped Sovereign and Saren at the Citadel. We killed Saren. We blew up Sovereign. We stopped the Reaper invasion. Everything happened more or less exactly how it was supposed to.

I smile at this, chuckling briefly. I look to Tali as I raise an arm in the air, the gesture victorious.

"We did it!" I say, sitting up and smiling. "We did it!"

I repeat it one more time as I look up to the sky and start laughing. The quarian gives me one look before she herself starts to look there in disbelief at all we've done. I hear her chuckle slightly, and then I sit there, looking at the debris. I see Tali's vision go over there, and then back to me. She offers me a questioning gesture, her hand pointing there.

"Don't worry, they'll live," I reply, patting her shoulder with a smile.

I stand up, however, and then offer my hand to her as she gives me what I guess is a bewildered look.

"So, you wanna help sift through debris right now?"

Tali gives me a small look before looking to my hand. She gives it a brief glance, and I can swear she's looking a little more than flustered as she takes my hand. I help her into a standing position, and... oh, wait... We're really close, aren't we...?

Uh... Oh dear... Her suit is right up against my armor... And... Oh dear...

My cheeks feel kind of hot right now. I glance down nervously, directing my gaze away. I swear I'm blushing... And I hear Tali giggle nervously close by as she realizes the distance between us is much shorter than is comfortable for me. Yes, I'm definitely blushing right about now... I look to the debris then, and gesture to it.

"Of course, Art," she says. "Let's go."

And so we walk back up the stairs, looking on the debris left behind by Sovereign and figuring out where we should start with moving the debris to get the rest of the crew out of there...

* * *

After nearly a half-hour of moving debris out of the way, we've only managed to find Liara and Wrex. The two of them seem shaken, but they're both okay. Wrex and Liara wind up helping us to move some debris out of the way, but the going is so slow it's ridiculous. Jeez... this must be what it was like to be on the ground crew of the WTC after September 11...

It's certainly unsettling work, that's for sure. And it's also extremely tense, given that I don't know where everything is going to be...

Wrex manages to pull a piece of debris aside when we hear footsteps behind us. I turn my head and look behind me as I work. I see two men there. One of them is just a generic person. The other...

"Anderson?"

He nods to me as the other crew members turn to face him.

"Yes, that is me," replies the Alliance member. "Thank goodness you are all right. Where is Shepard?"

Yes, that's him all right. "She's somewhere under this debris," I say. "As well as some other people on her team..."

"Right..." says Anderson's assistant. He activates a light on his omni tool. "We should probably dig a little faster."

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I nod to the others, who mostly nod back. Wrex shoves away a piece of debris that he was working on before we went back to work, digging Shepard and the crew out of there.

After what felt like hours, we finally hit gold.

"Hey, I found someone!" I hear the assistant say as Tali and I move a piece to help him move about. "It's a turian..."

"Garrus..." I whisper under my breath as I look to the hole the Marine is talking from. Tali and I quickly finish rolling the debris out of the way before Liara and Wrex both step in. Anderson comes in after them, and then I look to Tali and nod. We both step into the hole after that, and sure enough we see Garrus just kind of sitting there in his armor. He's a little disoriented and seems to have picked up a couple of cuts and bruises, but otherwise he looks fine. The others gather around as we notice that somehow the rest of the debris is a little more open.

Tali seems to notice this, and then... wait...

"Where's Kaidan?" I ask.

Garrus shifts slightly as the Alliance personel look him over for any possible cuts and bruises. "He went to go find Shepard," replies Garrus. "She should be here somewhere..."

I nod at this, looking to Shepard's superior officer. I see the worry on his face as he looks around at all of us uncertainly. Well... his concern is certainly more noticeable in the real world than it is in the game.

I offer him a smile and a small hand gesture. "She'll be all right," I tell him. "She's pretty hard to kill."

"I only hope you are right," replies Anderson as Liara and Wrex help Garrus to his feet. The turian stumbles a little as he regains his footing, and then nods to me.

"Well... we did it," began the turian. "We defeated Saren..."

I nod at this, looking over to where we had our fight with Saren. "Yeah..." I add. "And we stopped the Reaper invasion while we're at it..."

We're silent at this. Wow... the idea is still hard to believe. Wow... I feel surreal about everything here. It's just... We defeated Saren. I'm still having a hard time believing we actually saved the galaxy. I guess it just feels so much better since I had a more active role than being some voice of god for Shepard. I guess that feeling is more spectacular than having beat the game.

... Which I just lost. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!

We then hear shuffling footsteps come from within. All eyes turn to behold this, hoping for the best.

And sure enough, Kaidan walks into view, with Shepard's good arm slung over his shoulder. They both look pretty badly beaten up, but they're fine. I see Shepard offer a smile at us as she walks with Kaidan. She looks up and nods to the rest of us.

And that's when it finally drills itself into my head.

We've beaten _Mass Effect_. We stopped Saren! And we saved the galaxy!

I think there's cause to celebrate!

My smile grows ever wider, and in response to the great feeling I pump my fist in the air, jumping up as I do so.

"Yes!"


	22. Epilogue

________

___________A/N: All right! And with that, the final battle against Saren is won!_

And fun times are had. The epilogue will be just getting some character arcs resolved, setting up something for MV2's prologue, and so on and so forth.

So yeah, I won't say too much here since I usually tag A/N's at the end of a chapter whenever it finishes a story. So without further ado, here's the epilogue of Mass Vexations!

* * *

Epilogue: Mahler: Rondo-Finale

Four days after the Reaper invasion is thwarted, I got a chance to go through the extranet to find job postings. And that's what I'm doing right now, surfing the extranet for musical jobs.

Don't get me wrong, I kind of like life on the Normandy. But this life is going to end way sooner than what is safe for my sanity. Poor Shepard; she's gonna die in a month.

Speaking of month... I go to my pocket and check the date. I look at it as I gawk at it.

Wow, it's mid/late June already? Wow... I guess time just flies like that when you're having fun. Even better, in two days... wow, that's going to be quite a lot of fun. I already told Tali about it, so I wonder what she's going to do about it... Hm... Ah, well. We'll see soon enough. The Normandy's grounded for a couple of weeks while the Council decides what to do with us, so I'll get time to say goodbye if they leave late enough.

Right. Back to the extranet... Okay, teaching positions are not my forte as I'm a terrible teacher and am terrible at explaining things. So I'll skim over all that... Okay, playing jobs. That's more like it! All right, let's see... Ah, there's opera orchestra... Wait, the Citadel has an opera orchestra?

I click on the link. Okay, it's in the Tayseri ward... postponed until further notice... moving to an ampitheater in the 600 blocks until repairs are done on the Tayseri ward...

...looking for instrumentalists.

All right! I think I've hit the jackpot. I smile as I move through the holographic display. Okay... just as long as you can pass an audition... all right, use standard repertory, for one audition piece... I think I could bring the Clarke sonata over there, as I have basically the entire sonata memorized. Also, it's great for showing off a player's expressive abilities, particularly in the higher register. And besides, it's just such a great piece and I've never encountered a time where I haven't enjoyed playing it. So I'll take it to that.

Okay, excerpts... two, one from Don Juan... Oh, god damn it, _that_ pain in the ass excerpt? Ah, well; at least I know _Elektra_ still exists in this universe. That's a relief. And one from a Mozart opera... Oh, Christ, a Mozart opera. I just don't understand why people think he's such a genius. You know who a real musical genius was? Bach and Beethoven. Mozart just wrote simple melodies with chord progressions that worked really well. But where the hell was the counterpoint? I'll always prefer Haydn to Mozart, especially thanks to _The Creation_.

Right... Okay, I think I can do this. The audition is in two weeks, applications are being accepted...

And I should get to filling it out. All right... There. I've got it. All right, time to see if I can flex my compositional muscles any-

Wait. I just realized something.

Where the hell am I going to stay in the two years between ME 1 and ME 2? I mean, I'll have a job, but nowhere to stay! And I'll probably get robbed by a batarian!

Shit... Well, I could always ask some of the crew to see if there's any place I can go to. Maybe Shepard can pull some strings now that Anderson is the human Councillor. Oh, yeah, that's also a good thing; Anderson is the Councillor now. I'm so glad she picked Anderson over that opportunistic son of a bitch Udina. The fucker deserves it after all the grief he put us into. Anderson's much better for the job no matter how much he'll dislike it in ME2.

But that would likely be nepotism. What else can I do...? Well, Garrus has a small apartment here too, given that he works as a C-Sec officer. I imagine that'll help a bit. We'll see what happens...

Anyhow, time to look up more job offerings, preferrably for composition. Okay... type all that in...

Oh? What's this? A lot of these are film jobs. Wow, apparently film music is the thing to do today. I guess that makes sense, since there are a ton of cultures out there. I wonder if I would get a good film scoring job somewhere... All right, let's scroll down the list...

Okay, there's an asari romance... nah, I'll skip that. Okay, there's a human vid being shot on the Citadel... but it's a crime thriller. No thanks. Scale is too small... All right, a salarian vid... Hm, now this looks kind of interesting. It's a sci-fi thriller set on two planets. Ah, yes, this is a good scale. All right, it's nearing post-production, it needs a composer... And it uses salarian instruments. Oh, Christ. That's not going to be good... I would have to learn how to orchestrate for salarian instruments. Damn it. Just, damn it. Okay... moving right along...

Huh? Turian and human vid? Huh, this sounds interesting. I click on it and look over the specs. Oh. Apparently it's a turian/human collaboration being directed by a turian director, written by a turian and a human writer, produced by a human film company, and stuff. It's some sci-fi disaster drama about... ooh, an alternate Earth where some alien force destroyed lal life and enslaved the survivors. And they also moved on Palaven. Ooh, that's definitely interesting. And it's the right kind of scale I like to work with. I'm supposed to be teaming up with a turian composer. Okay... it's extraordinarily long, hence why they're using two people. It's currently filming, and it'll be in post-production soon. Two exerpts... and we can use however large a human orchestra we want.

Sweet! I get free reign over this one! It says I'll have to learn turian instruments, but I've got a month to figure it out and the excerpts don't need to have turian instruments. All right... If you're interested, e-mail these people and you'll get two seperate scenes for you to write a demo to. After a reading... Okay. All right. I'll see what happens with that.

I begin typing an e-mail, introducing myself as a little-known composer. I could send them stuff to show I actually do compose, but I'll wait for them to ask. I've began transcribing my _Rhythmic Metamorphoses_ almost entirely from memory into this universe, so I should be fine if they ask.

Okay... write the e-mail... get that done... make sure everything is all right... and bam. Done stuff is done.

All right. I think I'm good on that. I'll go around the Normandy a bit, maybe pick up some lunch.

And I do that, standing up from my terminal as I give my stuff one more glance before nodding and leaving my quarters.

* * *

The only other person at the mess hall is Garrus. Oh, goody, I get to ask about the apartment. I get some food and then come to sit by him.

"Hey, Garrus," I say with a soft smile. "How are you feeling after saving the galaxy?"

Garrus gives me a shrug as his eyes follow me. "I don't know what to feel," he replies. "I guess I'm just... excited. Or something. I don't really know."

I shrug at this, shifting in my seat. "Can't say I blame you there," I reply. "I was feeling a bit surreal about it myself."

"What can you say to doing something so big?" asks the turian with a shrug. "I really don't know."

I nod in reply, taking a bite of my food. Okay, this isn't too bad. I look over to Garrus. "What do you think you're gonna do after you get off the Normandy?"

The turian shrugs. "Oh, I'm probably going back to C-Sec," he replies. "They've likely missed me while I was gone. And plus, it'll be good to get back into the groove, if you know what I mean."

"Of course, of course," I reply.

"And you?" asks the C-Sec officer. "What are you planning?"

I shrug. "Well... I'm thinking of sitting around the Citadel," I reply with a hand gesture. "I'd like to get back into music somehow. Maybe get a couple of jobs for my instrument and my compositions..."

Garrus' mandibles flared briefly before he shifted. "Why not go back to Earth?" he asks.

That's a good question indeed. Well, apart from the time factor... "Well..." I say, shrugging. "The going was getting really tough on Earth. Maybe here on the Citadel I could wipe the blackboard and start from scratch... if you know what I mean. I think I could do with starting over, honestly."

The turian regards this with a bit of silence. Finally, he seems to agree with me somehow as he raps his talons against the table. "I see..." he says. "Well... If you ever need somewhere to stay, you could always use my apartment down by the Zakera wards..."

I blink violently at this. Wait, I haven't even asked him about it yet, and he's already saying yes? Oh, dear...

"Wow... uh..." I say, scratching the back of my head. "I... was actually going to ask about that eventually. So... you don't mind?"

Garrus shakes his head, his mandibles flaring out. "You seem like pretty good company," he replies. "So I wouldn't mind. If you're up to it, of course."

Oh, sweet! I get to live with Garrus Vakarian! I smile softly as I shift in my seat. "Yeah," I say. "I'm definitely up for it. I hope you don't mind sound in the apartment..."

"My C-Sec shifts tend to start early, so don't worry about that," he replies, his mandibles flaring out. "All right then. I'll be heading out to the apartment the day before the Normandy leaves this place. We should meet sometime that day. We'll work it out when we actually figure out when the Normandy leaves."

"That we should," I reply with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it!

All right! So I'll be staying with Garrus for most of the time... well... until he goes to Omega anyway. We figure out how we're going to make it work as we eat lunch that day, and it makes me glad to know that at least I won't have to rely on some hotel until I'm more financially secure. I wonder how Garrus will treat leaving the Citadel for Omega. It would certainly be interesting.

So we talk about the future, and plans are made. All right, I'm looking forward to the interim between ME1 and ME2 already!

* * *

The next day, I decided maybe I could play some _Contact Point 3 _to take a break from composing.

No such luck. For when I enter the rec room, I see Shepard and Kaidan sitting on the couch watching one of those sappy asari romance vids. It looks like it's halfway through, as an asari and a turian actor both are locked in a tight embrace, with the asari leaving a kiss on the turian's fringe. Okay... yeah, this is definitely an asari romance vid. Complete with a gratuitous sex scene! Which is... currently playing. Okay... so that's what a turian exoskeleton looks like when it's not in some ridiculous outfit or in C-Sec armor or something like that. Fun times, fun times...

And... my god, the romance! I see Shepard leaning against Kaidan, her head resting on his shoulder as they watch. Kaidan's hand is on Shepard's arm, holding her close to him as they watch the vid. His own head seems to hover over Shepard as they watch. If they were being any more obvious about it, they'd have to start kissing right in my line of sight. But I see Kaidan's hand ghost up and down Shepard's arm, and that's all the confirmation I need.

Yep, Kaidan was gunning for Shepard. That much is for sure.

As the vid goes on, I see Shepard shift slightly, and I notice her hair shift slightly. It was then that I noticed the Spectre's arm was going behind Kaidan. My guess is that her forearm would be where Kaidan's waist is. She leans against him, and I swear I can hear a soft sigh.

Aw... they really are in love! I knew it! Well...

I dunno how to feel, honestly. I guess a part of me is happy for them that they're in love and that their feelings are strong enough. But... I can't help but feel bad for both of them. The two of them are going to go through great heartbreak, and they may never get back up from it. Poor Kaidan's gonna have to deal with Shepard's death in a month, and then poor Shepard is going to have to deal with Kaidan essentially dumping her on Horizon when she gets resurrected two years later. This relationship is not going to end well, if it ever gets back on track at all.

Oh, well. I guess I better leave them to enjoy their moment.

I slowly slink out of there, leaving the rec room quietly. Almost as soon as I do, I feel a soft bump behind me. Jumping back and turning around, I see Liara right behind me. I let out a sigh of relief as she regards me with confusion.

"Oh, you scared me there, Liara," I say.

"Is the rec room taken?" she asks.

I glance back at the opening before biting my lower lip.

"Well, let's just say that the commander is taking a bit of downtime with a certain lieutenant and I'll leave it at that..." I reply.

She may be young, but she sure knows when to catch on to something. She simply nods to this sentence, and then crosses her arms. Poor girl. You're going to go through a lot of pain in the coming years. You'll be very different by the time we see each other again. I suppose I should take this opportunity to milk seeing Liara pre-Redemption for the last time.

"I mean, we could probably go to the mess hall if you want to talk about something," I say. "Maybe you could tell me a little more about Prothean spirituality..."

At this, the asari scientist rose her eyebrows, holding her hands in front of her as she regarded this. Finally, she nods her agreement, and then glances at the rec room where Kaidan and Shepard are still watching that romance vid.

"Of course," she says. "Follow me."

And then we ended up sitting in the mess hall for a bit, discussing Prothean spirituality. It's nice to be able to see Liara pre-Redemption. Poor girl is going to go through a lot. I already know what she's going to be like two years from now, but it's still going to be very disconcerting seeing her threatening to flay someone with her mind. But still, the Prothean principles of spirituality are very interesting. She says there are a lot of records about spirituality for them... and it's interesting to behold.

Me? I'm just enjoying one of the last conversations I'll have with innocent Liara. It's enlightening, and it's also informative. I'll miss these conversations in a few years time...

* * *

I walk down to the hanger later that day. I imagine Wrex will want a few words with me before I go, anyhow. So yeah, I've made the official announcement, just like Garrus has that he's leaving. So fun times will be had.

So I go down to the hangar, and... oh, boy. This is gonna be awkward.

I see Wrex standing by his usual spot. However, I see his red armor discarded to the side as he growl's frustratedly. I see that he's put on the pants of his family armor by this point, and is trying to figure out how the hell he's going to get the top portion of his armor on. Oh boy, I'm seeing a shirtless krogan. An _old_ shirtless krogan. This is awkward. Although, admittedly he's got good musculature for being an old... Oh, God! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Damn my bisexuality to hell!

Oh, well, at least he's not trying to seduce me the way Tonn Actus was. Actually, I don't think he's noticed me yet. So yay me!

I approach, and then get the slightest gost of a smile as I watch him work on the armor. He glances at me briefly before looking back to his breastplate.

"Hey," he says simply, looking down at me.

"Getting that stuff on?" I ask, gesturing to the family armor.

He nods, giving his breastplate another look. "Indeed," he says. "I've grown tired of my old armor."

Hm... I've got a feeling that will be pretty different. Especially given what you do in the two years after Shepard dies.

"But this thing is giving me a bit of a pain..." he says, looking down at me as he fiddles around with the breastplate some more. "But I've got this..."

And with this, he makes another attempt to put on the breastplate. I see him struggle on some areas of the suit, and I get the idea that its regal nature doesn't help the krogan at all. But... he's fine. Yeah, he's definitely got it. He figures something out and nods simply, his stoic expression not changing. Slowly, he fit the rest of his breastplate onto his upper body, and then works at it a little more before it clicks into place. He stands still for a moment, and when the armor is still he nods.

He clambers over to where the gauntlets of his armor are, and then slowly places them back on his hands before turning to me.

"Krogan don't usually ask this, but how do I look?" he asks.

Oh? He's asking me how he looks in that? All right... Well, the armor is white... and that goes nicely against his red stuff. Compliments all his scars too. But more than anything, the armor looks incredibly regal on him. And it certainly fits him, given that he's a proud member of clan Urdnot.

I smile as I cross my arms. "You look like you could be the king of England," I reply.

"A king of some old nation, huh?" he asks.

My smile turns into a smirk. "Of course," I reply. "Your armor could practically be one of the crown jewels if you took up residence in the Tower of London." Assuming it still exists, of course. Which it does, thankfully. Extranet searches are good.

"Krogan don't like their armor to be put on display," he replies, giving me a rather odd look.

I shrug, closing my eyes. "True enough," I reply. "Still, you can't deny you look like a born leader in that armor."

He chuckles at this, nodding to me. "That's what I thought," he says.

I gesture to him with a tilt of my head. I wonder if he's going to bring up going back to Tuchanka any time in the near future. Like, this conversation maybe? I dunno. But still, that armor looks pretty damn sick on him.

"You know, I've never seen you get into that armor at all," I mention as I walk over to where he would usually stand. "Any particular reason?"

He regards me for a second as he takes a look at his personal space. Finally, he nods a little.

"I've been thinking about returning to Tuchanka," he says.

Aha, there we are! Still, here he is saying that... it's a bit surprising, honestly... I raise my eyebrows as soon as he says this. I stand a little closer to the krogan as he finishes saying this, and then I uncross my arms.

"I... I see..." I reply. "What's with the change of heart?"

"I came onto this ship," says Wrex. "That's what changed."

Oh, going with the short version, eh? "That can't really be all," I say. "I mean, what about this ship made you change?"

He stands there and seems to look over to the bridge as he talks. "Just seeing Shepard was a big thing for me," he admits. "Seeing the difference that one woman made is... inspiring. Makes me think I can change things back home..."

With this, he gives me a small turn. "And I also met you on this ship," he says, a small smile. "You know, kid? You're naive sometimes, and you do stupid things too. But... that isn't always such a bad thing, I've come to realize. I can unite the krogan. You've given me that hope."

Oh? So he partly attributes his decision to return to Tuchanka to me? Oh, boy. This is heavy indeed. But it's not entirely unwelcome, if I want to be honest. I guess it makes sense; I'm more innocent and don't know everything, but I'm optimistic. But sometimes optimism can get people very far in life. So yeah.

I shrug as he says this. "Well, uh..." What am I supposed to say to that? "I... Well..."

And then he bursts out into laughter soon after, a broad smile on his face as he gives me a very hearty pat on the back. When he stops laughing, he looks down on me as his hand lingers on my shoulder.

"Don't fret about it," he replies. "I'm glad you did. I can't be senile forever, right?"

"Yeah, I get your point," I say, rubbing the back of my head. "I... uh, thanks... I... uh... I mean, I'm glad that I've given you hope..."

I chuckle nervously as he pats my shoulder once more. As he takes a seat by the terminal hes always standing around, I get my nerve back. Okay, what do I say to him... Yeah, I should definitely encourage him to gather the krogan.

"Hey," I say. "When you go back to Tuchanka... Don't let anything set you back, all right? Work at it and I think you'll succeed eventually." Wait, think? "No, I know you'll succeed."

He smiles simply at this. "I'll try," he says. He sits there for a few seconds before lifting a finger. "I'm actually going to be leaving the Normandy in a few days for that."

My eyes widen at this, and I can't help but feel a little sad at this. "Oh, no!" I say. "You're leaving too?"

"You know how it is," he says. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I'm going to tell Shepard after we're done here."

Oh. Well... I can't hold him back, because he's Urdnot fuckin' Wrex! He's just as badass as they come, and if he thinks he can unite Tuchanka, he certainly will be able to. And that will come no matter what happens next. So fun times are had.

"Well, I'll miss seeing your face around the Normandy in my final days here," I begin. "You've kind of grown on me, too, if I want to be honest, you know? You've been a good friend, Wrex. It's always fun chatting it up with you."

"Ha!" he says, scoffing at this and providing the biggest smile a krogan can offer me. "You think I'm a good friend! You're an even better one! I'll certainly miss seeing you around!"

I gesture. Well... we'll have to go down to Tuchanka for Mordin and Grunt's loyalty missions, so why not? "Who knows?" I ask. "Maybe I'll stop by Tuchanka one of these days just to say hi."

He smiles at me over this. "I look forward to it!" he replies. "You can always find me with Clan Urdnot, should you ever visit."

I hold up my fist at this, smiling. I hold it suspended for a second before Wrex gives me an odd look. He points at the fist, an inquisitive expression on his face as he gives it a contemplative look.

"It's called a fistbump," I reply. "Basically, you form a fist and you bump it lightly against my fist."

"Oh. I see..." he says, nodding at this. And almost instantly, he forms a fist with the hand farthest from me. He smirks at me, and... well, it's just so awesome-looking on his face I can't help but smile back. And then, with the both of us smiling, we bump fists. We then just look at each other, without saying anything. Well, really, what can be-?

"Oh, and you just lost the game."

...

"Oh, motherf-!"

* * *

Two days later, I decided I'd go down to engineering again. When I arrived, Tali was there as usual, but this time she was looking at the drive core, the blue light shining softly behind the glass. I remembered the first time we ever had a talk in engineering. I was in the position she was in now, and she was coming up behind me. Fun how the roles are reversed this time. Addams isn't here either, which helps a little bit.

I come up behind the quarian, who turns upon hearing my footsteps. I give her a soft smile as I approach, feeling a little quick to think about things. I nod to her with a smile as she regards me.

"So..." I say. "Today... is the big day."

I whip out my cell phone, which I've turned on beforehand. There, the date is displayed rather prominently on the display, and she nods at this.

"I see..." she says. "Have you checked the calendar here yet?"

I glance to my left arm quickly, shaking my head as I do so. "No," I reply. "I'll get to that right now."

I store the cell phone in my pocket, bringing up my omni-tool. All right, check the date... calendar... all right, here we are.

"So?" asks Tali. "What is it?"

I smile broadly at her as I put away the display of my omni tool.

"September 9, 2183 in human years," I reply.

We stand there for a while. Wow... It feels so strange to know that this day will have a new significance. This... is pretty surreal.

Tali places a hand on my shoulder, and I can feel her smile from below the facemask as she regards me. This... this isn't enough. I look at her, and then I draw her into a brief hug. I smile in some kind of combination of stuff as we embrace, and I can feel her arms come under mine as she holds me. Our heads are directly next to each other, and all she has to do is turn her head to say something and she's right in my ear.

"Happy 20th birthday, Art," she says simply.

We stay like this for a while before we finally part.

"Wow..." I say. "It feels so wierd to have a new birthday... Now that I'm not born in mid-June at the start of the 90's, it's... I dunno. September 9, 2163... That's my birthdate..."

"It's not every day that people wind up where you are now," she comments. "I wonder how it feels to be in your position..."

I shrug. "It's... fun, in its own wierd little way," I begin. "But it's also so damn surreal it's ridiculous." I look down at the drive core as I say this, walking past the engineer. "Like... the drive core, for instance. The game itself had very good graphics, but... there's just no beating seeing the real thing for yourself. I dunno... It's just... seeing things on a screen and seeing them for real... It's a bit of a shell-shock, no matter what."

I turn to her then, shrugging. "It's just seeing everything in the game is so strange..." I say. "We hadn't made contact with any aliens back in 2010. And now I'm walking among races that everybody where I'm from would consider fictional. It's just so... strange. But at the same time, it's pretty awesome. I dunno what to make of it... But I think I could get used to this."

She approaches me then, giving me a look that I can't discern as her eyes glow behind her mask. "I guess you could," she adds. "So... we'll see each other in a month under less than perfect circumstances?"

I nod. "Pretty much," I reply. "Well... not even good circumstances. You'll know, trust me."

She nods, and I can feel the nervous anticipation in her limbs. Looking to my omni-tool, I tap a few buttons on the holographic display, and a ping sounds on Tali's omni-tool. She looks at it curiously, and then taps a few things on hers. I hear a soft beep, and then she looks up at me. This time, I can feel the smile, and I can't help but show my own teeth to her.

"Keep in touch?" I ask.

She nods at this without a second's hesitation. "Of course," she replies. "I... I will..."

And with this, we say all that needs to be said as she walks to my side. We end up looking at the drive core for an hour and talking about other things. As we talk, I suddenly come to notice that my hand was on top of hers the entire time. That felt... awkward, but at the same time I didn't want to move it. So we stood like that, just talking.

And my heart kept on feeling like it was fluttering wildly. It was... a strange, yet very welcome, feeling.

* * *

A few days later, and Garrus and I are about ready to leave. Sadness ensues. Ah, well, I'll miss the commander. She's a good woman; I look forward to her resurrection.

I'll also miss the interior of this ship. I've already told Tali about the destruction of the Normandy, and that Shepard is also going to die in the explosion. She didn't take it so well, but as always she's keeping her word about not talking about anything we say in these walls. I think she's just angrier at the fact that I'd just sit there and let Shepard die. But I can't risk not knowing what the future will hold. It's stayed pretty faithful for the most part, except for the fact that I was the one talking to Wrex, Dr. Michel died, and Kaidan survived no matter what. So yeah.

I take a look at my room as I sit down. It always looked pretty lonely and desolate, but I got used to it after a while. I'm gonna miss this place. That much is for damn sure. It's like my second home.

But on the bright side, I got an audition with the Citadel Opera Orchestra, which is awesome because they'll be doing _Wozzeck _in one of their upcoming seasons before ME2 rolls around. And that will be awesome provided I get into it (which I doubt: I'm a good violist, but I don't think I'm _great_). Barring that, though, I've joined a composer's guild, so I should be fine with that. I'm just pissed that their normal venue got trashed by Sovereign. Yeah, destroy all of humanity and things won't be good, but destroying the opera house is just too much!

I take one last look at the room, and then I pull the paperweight out. Well, looks like Benezia was probably not onto something. Sure, I met with Vigil and got some answers... But they weren't enough for me. What I want to know is what the hell is this piece of Prothean technology supposed to do? And why are those not of this universe supposed to be the only ones who can hold it?

"That answer shall come soon, young one."

Ah! Holy shit! What the hell was that? I jump up, frantically looking around the room as I wonder where I heard the voice coming from.

"Who's here?" I ask. "And how the fuck do you know what I was thinking?"

"You look in the wrong places, young one." Holy shit, there's that voice again. I jump up, shaking my head.

"Oh, God, I think I'm going insane!" I say, looking around me. "Where is it coming from?"

"In your hands you hold the keys for the galaxy's salvation."

Okay, this is getting creepy. What the fuck is going on?

"I shall say it again: you look in the wrong places."

Wait. Wrong places... hands... I hold the keys... Benezia's words...

I look in the orange paperweight in my hands.

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, shaking my head and gesturing with my free hand. "You're telling me that I'm talking to a wierd orange paperweight that has seemingly served no purpose until this point?"

"And the truth has been seen by the keeper. And thus, all has turned out as it should."

I blink, looking down at the paperweight.

"I think I'm going insane," I reply, scratching my head with my free hand. "I'm talking to an inanimate object and I'm hearing a voice in my head." Yeah, I'm going insane. There's no other logical explanation for this.

"I speak the truth, that you are still a sane man," says the voice in my head. "Tell me, young one; what songs did the evil one sing when he killed himself?"

"Well, he was all, 'Thank you Shepard'," I reply. "Or something like that. I still don't believe you! All you've done is to reiterate stuff I already know!"

"Then perhaps I should allow my true nature to be revealed," says the voice. "For you have spent many a night contemplating my existence, have you not?"

I look at the paperweight. "How do I know it's not emotional validation?" I ask.

"You shall see, young one," says the thing. "For I can tell you the last Prothean to die by the Reapers' hand was the legendary Oracle of Feros, who foresaw a prophecy that I have been waiting to see play out for fifty thousand years.

"Four shall come, a glourious four, that heralds the end of a cycle eternal. The first shall come from strangest tides, and the second from tides quite well known. The third, shall be the wing of justice, the fourth, a sword forged in hell. And when these four together come forth, their songs shall end, to hell be blown."

Oh, great, poetry. Why is it that prophecies are always recited in poetry?

"That is not the important part," says the... voice? Paperweight?

I raise my eyebrows. "I still don't believe this," I reply. "What are you? Who are you?"

"I am nameless," replies the object. "Eternally so, I am quite afraid. But fear not, for I mean no harm. I am a vessel for the spirit of the Oracle of Feros. I am the only link in this world to a place of dreams..."

Wait... "So you're telling me that the Protheans dabbled in mysticism?" I ask.

"Indeed," replies the voice.

Hm? I don't think Liara ever excavated anything like that up... Unless the more ancient Prothean items say something... Because I know Liara dug up a few mystic objects that were treated like charms dating from about a hundred years before the Reapers came and blew everything up. So...

Wait.

"The Prothean spirituality..." I whisper. "It mentions a lot about several gods that watch over the world... You actually saw them, didn't you?"

"They are lords of the realm of dreams_,_" explains the AI. "They are as real as the abode which you hold in my hand. I speak the truth, young one, that they are the ones that taught us the art of divination."

"I... don't think I believe you, but there we go," I say. "What is the Oracle of Feros?"

"The Oracle of Feros was a mysterious one," says the voice. "She was a great mage, a mage of incredible power. She could peer into the folds of the realm that so many cannot see. And she could tell us of what would come to pass. I am the vehicle for her last prophecy, a prophecy that my creators made an attempt to make happen."

Oh, great, I am like a chosen one. I'll bet this thing kept me from dying at Virmire.

"No, I did not spare your life at Virmire," replies the thing without skipping a beat. "But the fates did. Your role in the coming war against the Reapers is too important. You have no true idea of how significant a role you will play; the fates do, however, and so you survived. I know this, and I speak the truth when I tell you that you were not spared by me but by a power far greater than I. I have, however, seen your exploits. You are admirable, noble, and quite able to fight a war, even with your underconfidence. I have grown... to like you."

I look down at it, a frown forming on my face. This think is pissing me off. "Well, you could have at least attempted to talk to me earlier!" I reply snappily. "But no, you had to wait until _after _the fact to get it done. Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, you would've saved me a lot of angst by just saying you could influence events to make sure I wouldn't die at Virmire! Asshole! Why didn't you talk to me then? Why now?"

"I had not found my voice yet," replies the object. "It was not until you passed through the Conduit that my voice was found. I would have informed you earlier had I found my voice. Once I had found it, you would be the only one able to hear it."

I blink. Okay, this is starting to get a little creepy. And I'm sensing a lot of bullshit right now. "That's not really why you didn't talk to me, is it?" I ask.

The thing... whatever it is... seems to sigh. "I wanted to demonstrate my power first," it says. "I survived many thousands of years in Sovereign without being indoctrinated. I would like the one who handles me to know how much power I can wield. And even more so if they understand what I can do on my own. For once you master the other world, you can do many wondrous things with me."

Okay, this is creepy. It's kind of starting to sound like that one circus master... shit, what's his name? I forget. It's the one from _Something Wicked This Way Comes_, I know that. But for the life of me, I can't remember his name. Damn it... it's been too long since I've read a Ray Bradbury book.

"Right..." I say. "I'm not gonna lie to you since you can read my mind, but... I don't exactly trust you all that much. This... is a bit much to swallow."

"We do have two years, yes?" asks the paperweight thing... "You may get used to me in that time. In the meantime, though, I still am nameless..."

I look at it. "So you want me to give your consciousness a name," I say.

"If you would, please," says the thing.

Huh... Well... Oddy doesn't work, so there's that. Mystic... nah, not so much. Norn? Nah, that only works in the plural. Thor? Nah, he doesn't control lightning...

Well... what can I name this thing? It's orange, and... well...

"I... I hope 'Orange' doesn't sound too odd to you," I say with a shrug.

The thing hesitates for a second. But then hen I hear it again, it seems rather pleased. "Yes, that is suitable," it says. "I was kept in an orange abode, and so Orange I shall be named. Thank you, young one."

"Right..." I say. "What's this realm that so many cannot see?"

"It is a realm where spirits and demons walk alike," replies Orange. "Its hold was strongest at the Conduit. It was in that strong area where I found my voice. I will be able to keep my voice for ten years as a result. But it is a strange world, where people also go when they sleep."

Wait... "So it's like the Fade from _Dragon Age_?" I ask.

"If you would prefer to put it that way, yes," says Orange. "It is a world in which prophecies are also seen. You have been around me long enough. Perhaps someday I can teach you the Prothean art of seeing into the void to see what could come to pass. But perhaps I have said too much. I will let you digest what information you have obtained for now, and I will only reveal the prophecy to you as it becomes relevant."

I look to the object before shrugging. "I'm going in for a psych evaluation after this," I say. "I want to make sure I haven't lost my mind."

"Very well," says the object. "Do as you wish if it will help you digest this information."

Right. Okay, I guess... the conversation's done?

"For now, yes," says Orange. "Until we meet again."

Odd. That was certainly an odd encounter... And it hasn't answered anything, god damn it!

I put the object back in my pocket.

Okay, that was really fucked up. I'm definitely going in for a psych evaluation later. I want to make sure I'm still sane. And that I'm not dead. That too, although by the fact that Shepard's around I really doubt it's so.

Well, this is the last time I'll ever be in this room. I think I'll stop by navigation sometime soon and say goodbye to the remaining crew while I prepare for the Citadel Opera Orchestra auditions. Now, I need to find stuff to do.

For now, I grip my viola case in my hand, the case containing my armor, weapons, and terminal in another, and I give one last look at my quarters. Small thing, but it did its job.

And with this, I leave the room behind. No words can really describe how much I'm gonna miss the SSV Normandy.

I make my rounds around the Normandy and say farewell to several people. Wrex already left for Tuchanka, so I've already said goodbye. Tali is staying since Shepard offered to take her back to the Fleet, so we trade contact info and leave it at that. Kaidan simply regards me with a nod as I leave, and then Liara and I exchange a few cordial words. And lastly, Shepard is rather warm. I tell her that if I ever need anything I can talk to Hannah and Al. I'm grateful for this, and I nod.

And then, at the airlock I meet up with Garrus. We step off, and we have a small conversation as we go on. I look back at the Normandy briefly, getting a last look at it. After all, the next time I see a ship called the Normandy, it's going to have a Cerberus logo on it and it's going to have an overpraising bitch as second in command. Ah, well.

I shrug it off and turn back to Garrus. The two of us head into the Citadel, leaving the Normandy behind as we begin a new life.

And now, the countdown to _Mass Effect 2_ begins.

* * *

**End of Part 1**

* * *

_A/N: And that's all, folks!_

_So yes. Some things that should be mentioned? I'll just go down a few points that I know will come up from reading this chapter._

_Well, yes, you read that entire last part of the epilogue right; Mass Vexations now has mystical elements. Don't freak out just yet, though; I won't be using mystical elements like the kind that you'd see in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Because that would be too easy, and it would make everything so much less fun. No, this'll mostly just stick to mystical elements of the kind that would be more commonly found in something like Greek mythology, where everything is all part of a much larger plan that we can't comprehend without help. No spells or sorcery or mystical creatuers or any of that stuff; just sticking to divination, with maybe the occasional extra thing thrown out there._

_As for that prophecy? It'll be fulfilled, although it'll take a damn long time to get everyone we need for it. Let's just say the prophecy won't have everybody there until midway through MV3, possibly towards the end of it._

_And as for the other uses of that thing? Art will find out exactly what those other uses are throughout MV2. Needless to say, they will be quite... strange._

_Other than that, yes, I shall keep up the ship teasing between Tali and Art for all it's worth. Don't fret just yet, though; they WILL get together as a couple during the course of MV2. This much is guaranteed, even with some of the angst that occurs during MV2. So for all of you that have been eyeing Art/Tali for now, your patience shall be rewarded in MV2! And no, September 9 is not my actual birthday, so there!_

_Right. I guess... I better go down a list of thank yous. So, I'd like to thank the following:_

_-The team at Bioware for making such a great game._

_-Everybody that left a review for this thing. (Seriously, I never would have thought this thing would eventually go on to get over 100 reviews when I first wrote it; I only have two other stories on this site that have surpassed that record as of this writing, and one wasn't even completely written by me!)_

_-My faithful reviewers for this (iNf3ctioNZ, Calrama, XT Vengeance, friendlyalien, cHr0n0sPh3r3, Nexu5, and FoxwolfJackson)._

_-My good friends on this and other sites (iNf3ctioNZ, FoxwolfJackson, nievelion, and RoyalFanatic) for all their support._

_-And you, the reader._

_All right. So starting now, I'll take a break on Mass Vexations to work on other projects. I hope you enjoyed, and I look forward to seeing your comments on parts 2 and 3!_

_-Herr Wozzeck_


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